


The Proposal

by Lunaandtwilight07



Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: Angst, F/M, Fluff, Humor, Marriage Proposal, Marriage of Convenience, Sharing a Bed
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-03-23
Updated: 2019-09-28
Packaged: 2019-11-28 18:40:40
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 8
Words: 35,079
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18212108
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lunaandtwilight07/pseuds/Lunaandtwilight07
Summary: Regina Mills is an American citizen working as a high ranking scientist at a London laboratory. After learning she is about to be deported back to America because she violated the terms of her work visa, she persuades her assistant, Robin Locksley, to marry her.





	1. Chapter 1

**Hey guys! Here's chapter one of my OQMovieWeek fic based on the proposal.**

**This story is set in England, but I'm not going along with the actual law from this country as they are a little different and probably wouldn't work with this premise. So I decided to stick to a similar type of situation** as **the one in the film.**

**I hope you enjoy it, and this chapter hasn't been proofread yet so if you come across any mistakes, just ignore them. Oops.**

* * *

Regina couldn't actually believe that this was what her life had come to, only the week before she'd had a stable job and a prominent future. Now though everything was up in the air like caps on graduation day and although she might seem perfectly calm to others, on the inside she was freaking out, her whole life was about to be destroyed and the only thing she could possibly do about it was to sit and wait for it to happen.

There are probably better places to have a panic attack than in the bathroom of a crowded train making its way out of London towards up north, as he calls it. The man her entire future is relying on. She'd been living in England for five years and still had yet to venture out of London and its surrounding area, so up north sounded rather daunting, to say the least.

This whole thing had been her own fault really, they had told her not to leave the country but she did it anyway, her father had been taken ill and she'd returned to America for a couple of weeks, now it seems as though she'll be having to go back there on a more permanent basis. Her application for her visa had been denied and if she didn't do something soon, something which was probably less than legal, she was going to be deported. She knew that her plan had maybe been a little bit rash, but she'd had no other choice, it had to be done.

There was a loud pounding in her head, the whole situation was really getting to her and she couldn't stop thinking about all the possible outcomes. She liked it here and she loved her job, she knew that she wouldn't find a better one in the US, not with the salary she was currently on. She tried to remind herself that she'd had no other option and although it may have been drastic, there wasn't anything else she could have done.

The banging in her head seemed to be getting louder and louder the more she thought about her unstable future. A loud shout broke her from her thoughts and she realised that the pounding may not have been as in her head as she first thought. Someone was banging on the door to the tiny cramped toilet and had probably been waiting quite a while, she had no idea how long she had been inside, but being sat next to him in a verging on awkward silence was something she'd just had to escape from.

With a groan, she glanced in the mirror one last time before sliding the lock on and coming face to face with an angry looking woman holding a screaming child. "Did you not hear the knocking."

"I was using the…" before she could even finish her sentence the woman was barging past her into the bathroom, nudging her out of the way and slamming the door closed. Regina blinked in shock, trying to pull herself together, she glanced down the walkway of the train which was seemingly fuller than it had been before she left her seat. His eyes were on her and there was a small smirk playing on his face, one which earnt him a scowl in return as she tried to squish past people to return to her seat.

"I'm glad you think this is funny," she huffed as she dropped down beside him, noticing that there was a sickeningly loved-up couple now sitting at the other side of the table to them. "I see we have company, does this train not just go straight there, couldn't we have caught a flight or something? What about first class?"

"You want to fly when the train only takes a couple of hours? Considering your profession, I'd say you were rather oblivious to the climate."

"Shut it. I hate public transport."

"I can tell and it's hilarious, I really wish I'd opted for the coach instead of the train it would have been even better."

"Robin," she groaned, she knew he was going to carry on teasing her relentlessly, he had the leverage and the ball was well and truly in his court, she was relying on him.

It was his fault she was on this train in the first place, it had all been a downward spiral since she'd talked to her bosses a few days ago and they'd told her about what was going to happen. Then Robin, her secretary, had come into the meeting room to deliver her a message and she'd had a momentary blip and told her bosses that they were engaged. The look on his face had been one she would never forget, he had stared at her in absolute shock but managed to recover well in order to, rather reluctantly, go along with her plan.

After realising that there was no other option but to go with it, mainly because the person the big bosses had in mind to take Regina's job should she be forced to leave hated Robin's guts and would probably have him fired, they'd had to go to the immigration office and talk to people there. They knew that it was going to be difficult and there would be many tests set to trip them up along the way, but she wanted to stay and Robin wanted to keep his job so they had no other option.

This trip though had come as a surprise, Robin had informed the immigration officer that he would be returning home to celebrate his grandfather's ninetieth birthday and naturally the man had assumed Regina would be going along, leaving her no other option but to comply.

"Where even are we?"

"We're about an hour away."

"Still? I feel like I have been trapped in here for hours."

"Regina its barely even been an hour," he sighed, leaning against the window and looking out, "I cannot believe you're even coming up here with me."

"Why?"

"Because…"

"We needed it to seem believable, what person doesn't go with their significant other to a family occasion?"

"Okay baby, whatever you say," he chuckled as he unscrewed the cap of his lemonade and took a drink.

"Now that's just weird, baby? Really?"

"You're going to have to get used to that, we're going to really have to work on how we act around my family, especially you."

"What does that mean, especially me?" she asked, narrowing her eyes at him. She wasn't the only one having to pretend, so why was he making out as though she was going to have to put in more work than he was? She could fake being in a relationship, surely it couldn't be that hard to do.

"It means, you're not really the warmest of people," Robin shrugged, "sometimes you can be a little standoffish and if I'm being honest, its probably what scares people away."

"Excuse me? Standoffish?"

"That's what you're like with literally everyone at work."

"That's because I'm their boss and I have to keep absolute authority, otherwise they would get too comfortable and lacklustre. It's important to keep people on their toes."

"Keep people hating you more like."

At that, she went quite and opted to look at her hands in contemplation, did her employees really hate her that much? She knew that she probably wasn't their favourite person in the world, but hate was a strong word and she couldn't say that she had ever really used it to describe the way she felt about anyone, not since her argument with Constance Merriweather in college, if people think that Regina is a stuck-up cow, they ought to meet that bitch.

Robin was technically one of the workers, although he was on the other side of the glass doors and had his desk inside her office, he was still one of the crew and she was an outsider. To him, she was probably just another bossy britches with her head up her own ass. "I think I might go stretch my legs a little, walk through the train."

"Regina…"

"I need to find the drinks cart anyway because I…"

"I got your coffee, caramel latte with one sweetener," he stated, gesturing to the cup on the table that she hadn't even noticed. She looked at him before glancing back at the coffee and sitting back in her seat dejectedly, she was using the drinks cart as an excuse to get away from the awkwardness, but it seemed she had him trained too well for her to gain any type of advantage.

"Well, you didn't have to do that."

"Do you want to talk about what's in that huge file that I saw you shove into your bag back at the office."

"This is a book of some of the questions we might be asked," she stated, reaching down into her bag and pulling it out to hand to him. He began flipping through it, chuckling at some of them before handing it back to her.

"Well the good news is that I know all the answers to these questions for you, but you're going to have to learn them about me too."

"You know all the answers?"

"Yes."

"Really?" she rose an eyebrow, she couldn't believe that, there were rows and rows of questions and he couldn't possibly know the answer to them all. "Okay then, do I have any allergies?"

"Bee stings, I have to stab you in the leg with your EpiPen if one stings you. You're also allergic to most humans, but unfortunately for that one, I have no cure."

"Very funny," she offered him up a fake smile before continuing to look at the questions, she wanted to find one that might trick him out and make him answer wrong. "What is my full name?"

"Regina Maria Mills."

"Okay…"

"But usually people in the office don't bother with your full name, they just call you the Evil Queen."

"Lovely, are you purposely setting out to make this difficult because I really want to spill my nice caramel latte all over you right now."

"Okay okay, I'll go easy on you," he grinned, nudging her playfully, only to receive a glare in return.

"I think we're done with these questions now. Are we there yet? I feel like the oxygen on this train is running low."

"As a scientist, I think you know that's probably not the case."

"As a scientist I think I can tell you that anything is possible," she was so done with this already, she didn't think she would be able to stand spending an entire week with him, not to mention they were going to spending most of their time at his parents' house, she was not only going to have to be with Robin, but his family as well and as he pointed out in a less than kind way, she wasn't a people person. Animals she could deal with, but people were a whole different story.

"Ask me another one."

"I don't think that's a good idea."

"Regina, come on, ask me, I want to see if I know you as well as I think I do."

"Fine," she rolled her eyes, reluctantly reopening the book and trying to find a really hard one. She grinned when she saw it and turned to him with a triumphant smile, she knew that there was no way he knew the answer to this question. "Do I have any tattoos?"

"Tattoos," he tapped his fingers against the table as he looked at her, seemingly mulling it over in his head, it was almost as though he was assessing her, trying to work out what she was thinking from the look on her face, but there was no way she was giving this one away and she had a feeling that he was going to get the answer wrong. "I'm going to say yes."

"What?" she groaned, her shoulder slumping, she had been so sure that he would answer wrong, "why do you think that I have tattoos?"

"Do you?"

"One."

"Well, I never would have guessed that."

"You just did."

"Yeah, but you gave that away, before I wouldn't have thought that you had tattoos, what is it?"

"It's a feather," she stated, picking up her coffee and taking a sip, it wasn't exactly warm but it did take her mind off the conversation, she wanted to move onto another topic.

"And where is this mysterious feather?"

"Ah, that would be telling."

"Come on Regina, they might ask and if I don't know where it is that would look suspicious, you have to tell me for your own good."

"Nope," she shook her head, she highly doubted they would ask that question anyway, it wasn't as important as some of the others, "we are done with this conversation." She quipped handing the book over to him.

"Do you want me to test you and see if you know the some of the answers about me?" he asked as he placed it down on the table.

Regina glanced at him before looking straight ahead and unfortunately being met with the sight of the young couple with their tongues in one another's mouths. She wrinkled her nose and dipped her hand back into her bag to find her phone, "you already said that I wouldn't know the answers, so what's the point."

"I thought you might want to get to know the answers, after all, you're going to need them."

She thought about it for a moment before rolling her eyes and nodding at him, "fine, alright." She wasn't looking forward to this because she was going to find out just how neglectful of a boss she had been over the years, Robin had been her assistant for two years and although she knew some things about him, she definitely didn't know him on the level that he knew her and that was worrying.

"Okay, I'll start with an easy one. What is my full name?"

Her bottom lip found its way between her teeth as she looked around and stared out of the window for a moment, watching as the landscape whizzed by, all she could see were green field and a few dwellings, it seemed like forever since she had seen the countryside, not since she'd moved to London that was for sure. She was procrastinating because she didn't know the answer to his question, if he had a middle name she didn't know it. "Robin Locksley?"

"Robin Michael Locksley. Do I have any siblings?"

"Yes, you have two brothers and a sister," she grinned, smirking at him feeling proud of herself that she had managed to get one right.

"Correct, but I did tell you that about an hour ago, so I'm not sure that counts."

"It does count!" Regina protested, how dare he discredit her achievement, even if he did have a point. "I can even tell you their names, Emma, Graham and…" blank, her mind had gone blank, what on earth was his other brother called? Like he said it had only been an hour ago since he told her, she couldn't have forgotten already. He had a smug smirk on his face and it was evident that he thought he'd won, she just wished that the final name would come to her.

"You're missing one."

"Don't you think I don't know that?" she snapped, sitting back in her chair and racking her brain, going over name after name to try and work it out. She glanced up at the luggage rack and sighed, like that was going to give her any indication as to his brother's name. Graham and… Emma, Graham and "David! Your other brother is David."

"Okay, I'll give you that one," he chuckled, "but you still have a lot to learn."

Regina nodded took a sip of her drink, at least for now she could be smug in her small victory, but she had a feeling that the hardest part was still to come.

* * *

When the train finally pulled to a stop at the station they were vacating at Regina's stomach plummeted, shed thought that she wanted it, that she couldn't wait to get off the damned thing, but now she had to face the reality that she was about to meet Robin's family and she had no idea how they were going to take to her or what they were going to say. After all their engagement had come completely out of nowhere.

She stood from her seat and had to almost fight to get her bag down from the rack above, she was too short, even in the heels she was wearing, to get the bag down at the correct angle without it falling on top of her. Robin wasn't any help, he was just chuckling to himself as he grabbed his own bag and got off the train without her. She stared after him for a second and scoffed at the audacity.

The man from the loved-up couple stood from his chair and grabbed her bag for her, "there you are."

"I could have done it myself," she huffed, "also, you might want to cut down on the amount of PDA, its positively nauseating." With that, she made her way off the train and looked around trying to gain her bearings. It was a tiny train station, nothing like King's Cross where they had departed from, there were none of the modern glass ceilings, instead, it was pretty open and she had absolutely no clue where Robin had gone.

She looked around for a moment and realised that there were tracks either side of her and she was on a platform located in the middle of them, there weren't any escalators or bridges so she didn't know how she was supposed to get to the other side where she assumed the exit would be located. She pouted and leant against her Louis Vuitton luggage, her eyes scanning for any sign of her travelling partner. She knew that he'd done this on purpose to make her look like a fool.

"What are you doing over there?" Robin shouted across the tracks as he came into view with a smug smile on his face. She knew his game and she wasn't playing along.

"You left me you idiot! Now you're going to have to come back and get me," she huffed, folding her arms over her chest as she stared him out.

"Pretty sure you can work out how to get here on your own, it's not that hard."

"Robin, this isn't funny, it's childish."

"You'll work it out," he grinned, "meet you out front," he quipped before walking through some doors, she watched as he fed his ticket through the gate and disappeared from sight. He'd left her. The arsehole had actually left her standing on the platform with virtually no clue about how she was supposed to get over to him, there must be something she was missing, some kind of walkway.

She turned on her heel and it was then that she spotted the painfully obvious set of stairs that clearly led to an underground tunnel that led to the other side and she suddenly felt rather silly. Yet again she looked like a fool and had fallen directly into his trickery. "Great, I just know you are going to make this a living nightmare," she mumbled under her breath as she made her way towards the stairs. She was tempted to just stand on the platform and make him wait, but she didn't want to look any more stupid than she already felt.

Once she was above ground again at the other side of the tracks, she fed her ticket through the machine and moved through the old building and out into the town. There were historical buildings all around and on the outside, the train station looked much more extravagant than it did on the inside, there were six large columns that held up the front of the building and a clock sat in the centre above them.

From there it looked out onto a large square with a bronze cast sculpture in the centre. Children were running around as their parents sat on benches talking and Regina couldn't help but wonder why they weren't in the park instead. Shaking her head, she finally spotted Robin stood with two older women at the other side of the square. Rolling her eyes, she took a deep breath before pulling her luggage with her and walking confidently towards them.

She could do this, she was a strong independent… "Oh my god!" all of a sudden she was drenched from head to toe with freezing cold water and came to the unfortunate realisation that what she had initially thought was a plain old square, was actually also a water feature with fountains that shot out powerful jets, enough to have her soaked to the bone. Now she realised why the kids were so excited to be playing in a square.

Regina reluctantly peered around and noticed that Robin and his mother and the other woman who was most likely his grandmother, were all staring at her. Great, just great.

She made her way closer and forced a smile onto her face as she pushed a wet strand of hair behind her ear. "I didn't know there were little fountains," she stated through gritted teeth as she tried her hardest not to smack Robin as he chuckled at her expense.

"Sorry, I didn't think to tell you about them, I didn't expect that to happen," he quipped, she could tell that he thought it was hilarious, she certainly didn't. "Well, mother this is Regina Mills, my slightly damp girlfriend."

She rose a single unimpressed eyebrow at him before the older woman's hands were either side of her face squishing it slightly, "Regina dear! I feel as though we've been waiting a lifetime for Robin to bring someone home. He's told us so much about you, although your description didn't do her justice, Robin! She is simply stunning, my goodness, it's so good to finally meet you, welcome to the family!" With that Caroline wrapped her arms around Regina and the younger woman just stood there in shock, her eyes widening somewhat as she reluctantly hugged her back.

"It's nice to meet you too Mrs Locksley," Regina stated as they pulled back from the hug and she offered her an awkward smile. Almost as soon as she was out of his mother's hug the other woman decided that she wanted one also and Regina had no choice but to go along with it.

"Robin, she seems much nicer than you suggested. Nothing at all like an evil queen."

Regina's eyes flicked to Robin as she stared at him, he'd told them about that? He was so dead. "Oh well, Robin does like to exaggerate."

"Better watch out for her mood swings grandma, she'll be all loving one minute and the next she'll turn on you, like a feral cat."

"Nice to know you think so highly of me."

"You know I do sweetie."

She swallowed down her distaste for the nickname and looked at the two women, who seemed to be analysing every soaking wet inch of her. "I would really love to get out of these wet clothes. Would we be able to check into the hotel?" She asked expectantly.

"Oh, we cancelled your reservations! You're family, you should stay with us." Regina's eyes widened and she noticed that Robin's did also, clearly, he didn't know about this development, she wasn't sure if she should be happy that they'd caught him out, or freaking out about it.

"That sounds lovely."

"Wonderful! Let's get you in the car and we can get on our way." The tall blonde clapped as she turned and they headed towards an old Land Rover covered in thick mud.

"You laugh at me one more time and I'll hurt you," she murmured to Robin as they both followed behind his mother.

"Aww come on honey bunny, it was a little funny," he grinned, his arm wrapping around her shoulder.

"Stop it," she swatted at his hand.

"You really are like a feral cat," Robin laughed as he tossed his case in the back of his mother's car.

"Yeah, well you better keep a good distance so you don't get scratched then." She carefully placed her soggy luggage next to his and climbed into the back seat beside him as his relatives sat in the front. "How long is it going to take us to get where we're going?" she asked under her voice, not wanting his mother to overhear.

"Its probably around a forty-five-minute drive."

Regina closed her eyes and tried not to freak out, she was tired and soaking wet and quite frankly she couldn't wait to be able to just flop down on a bed and sleep, even if it was only four o'clock in the afternoon. She was ready for the whole trip to be over and it really hadn't even started yet.

* * *

**Thanks for reading, tune in tomorrow for another chapter! Don't be afraid to let me know your thoughts, I love hearing them. ;)**


	2. Turn off the lights!

After what seemed like forever and a none stop stream of conversation between the three Locksleys, they finally pulled down a dirt track and Regina stared at it in dismay. They were literally in the middle of nowhere surrounded by nothing but fields and trees, directly on the edge of the moorland. This was the definition of living in the countryside and she was ninety-nine percent sure that she wouldn't be getting any phone single for her entire stay.

"This is where you live?" she asked as the car came to stop in front of what she could only describe as a mansion sitting in the middle of nowhere. The house was huge, there were even pillars in front of the large oak doors; three stories of stone and windows towered above them as ivy consumed parts of the building, however, the plant was clearly maintained as it was trimmed to make the house look well kept and absolutely beautiful. She had never seen anything so amazing.

"Yes dear," Caroline quipped as she cut the engine of the car which certainly did not match the house, Regina had been expecting a small cottage, so what she saw in front of her was rather a large shock.

"You didn't tell me you were rich," she whispered to Robin as they got out of the car, "why didn't you tell me?"

"I'm not rich, my parents are," he shrugged.

"Isn't it the same thing?"

"Not really."

"Robin…"

"Is that my Grandson?"

"Hey! Grandad," Robin grinned, leaving Regina standing awkwardly next to the car as he embraced the old man who was leaning on a cane on the top step.

"Would you like the tour Regina?" his mother asked with a kind smile, Regina simply nodded in return and grabbed her case from the car before following her, for some reason it felt like her first day at boarding school all over again. She remembered all too well the feeling of walking into that building with just her luggage and feeling so scared that she thought she might throw up, although then it was also accompanied by the worry that she was only there because her parents didn't want her. She swallowed down that memory and kept her head up. "Dad, this is Regina, Robin's girlfriend."

"Robin's what?" the old man looked her up and down with a critical eye and she just froze up, it was as though her voice disappeared and she had forgotten to act around people. He looked just like Robin but the older model, the way he looked at her made her feel like Robin had told him something that he hadn't relayed to his mother and grandmother.

"She's my girlfriend."

"I thought she was your boss."

"She's that too," Robin nodded, running a hand through his hair awkwardly.

"Oh, so are bosses allowed to date their employees then? I didn't know that."

"Yeah well, we're dating so, let's hope so."

"It's nice to meet you, sir," Regina quipped, holding her hand out for him to shake. He eyed it curiously before looking back to Robin.

"Well, I suppose we have a lot to talk about, don't we Robin."

"Yes," the younger man sighed and Regina felt nervousness pool in the pit of her stomach. Why hadn't he shook her hand? She thought that was common practice and now she felt like a stupid idiot.

"Come dear, I'll show you around the house," Caroline offered her a reassuring smile before leading her inside.

* * *

If the house looked big on the outside, on the inside it was virtually the Tardis itself; the ceilings were high and unlike the modern spacious apartment Regina lived in back in London this reminded her of a Victorian country house, that was exactly what it was really. Everything about it screamed antique, but it was amazing and she was extremely impressed.

She was still a little damp from the fountain incident so Caroline had shown her to the room she would be staying in, inside this particular room the walls were painted a powder blue and the four-poster bed in the middle was covered with silky sheets that were just screaming at her to slide into them and fall asleep. There were large windows that looked out upon the view and the floor was covered by a plush carpet that felt amazing under her bare feet.

"So, this is it, I hope you like it."

"It's wonderful, thank you for allowing me to stay here."

"Nonsense! As I said, you are family now. So, the bathroom is just across the hall, holler if you need anything. Towels should be in that cupboard there, I suppose I'll leave you to it."

Regina nodded at her and watched as she bowed out of the room, closing the door behind her. She let out a breath she hadn't even realised she was holding and flopped down on the bed, she could see directly out of the window and was able to stare out at the rolling hills which surrounded them. Her eyes fluttered closed as she tried to clear her mind, she could do this, she had to keep telling herself that.

What she needed at that moment was a nice hot shower to wash all the morning's travel away, maybe then she might feel fresher. She still had to meet Robin's father and if meeting his grandfather had anything to go by, it wasn't going to go too well, though for the life of her she couldn't work out what it was that she'd done wrong.

She headed over to the closest and took out a towel so that she'd be able to take a shower, quickly she scurried across the corridor and into the bathroom. It wasn't what she had expected, there were modem tiles and a huge glass-walled shower, it was luxurious and she was really looking forward to that warm shower.

Once she was thoroughly warmed through, she turned off the water and wrapped the towel around her, only to realise that it wasn't actually a proper bath towel and didn't fully cover her body. She frowned at it before awkwardly opening some of the cupboards, she felt like she was intruding, but what other option did she have? She needed to get back to the room and someone might see her, that was the last thing she wanted to happen.

Regina quite quickly came to realise that she wasn't going to find a towel in the bathroom cupboards, they were clearly all in the bedroom. With a groan she tried to tighten the towel before moving closer to the door, she opened it and peeked around to see if anyone was out there. When she was sure that the coast was clear she grabbed her clothes and scurried from the bathroom and back into the guest room Caroline had set up for her.

She was so focused on making sure that no one saw her on the landing that she didn't entertain the notion that someone might be inside the room itself. She closed the door behind her and leant against it, only to find Robin laid out on the bed staring at her.

"You do know that's a hand towel, right?"

"I'm well aware thank you," she huffed, trying to cover her body, knowing her arse would be on full show should she move, the towel was only just covering her private areas.

"Doesn't really help with the drying process all that much, I'm sure my mother wouldn't mind if you used a regular sized towel if you're worried about her having to do laundry."

"I picked up the wrong one by mistake and you obviously know that. Who uses a hand towel to dry themselves by choice, it's a ludicrous notion?"

"I can't believe you even came out of the bathroom like that, what if my elderly grandfather caught an eyeful, he'd have had a heart attack."

"Would you just shut up. What are you even doing in my room?"

"Don't you mean our room honey?" he grinned, with a single eyebrow raised.

She stared at him with a less than impressed expression on her face, he couldn't really be serious, could he? "Not a chance."

"If you want to make this look…"

"Not a chance! There is no way I am sharing a room with you Robin, it's not happening, no way, nope, not happening, no."

"Really, Regina, what young couple chooses to sleep in separate rooms, my mother is fine with it, in fact, she was quite insistent."

"We'll tell her that I'm a devout Christian and don't believe in sex before marriage! There is no way I am sharing a bed with you, it isn't happening."

"Well it is, trust me, if I thought we could get out of it with a feasible excuse then I would have been the first to do it… also, can you cover up please, you're distracting me a little from my train of thought."

"Stop looking at me then!" Regina scoffed, holding her towel closer to her, she'd become so caught up in the argument about the room situation that she had almost forgotten about her modesty. "Why are you even looking at me?"

"It's a little hard to ignore when you're standing there practically naked and dripping wet."

"Disgusting," she huffed, only to have a blanket be thrown directly at her. Her reactions kicked in and she dropped her towel so she could catch the offending item, un-intentionally flashing Robin in the process. She felt her cheeks heat up as she hurried to wrap the blanket around her and stared at him.

"Nice tattoo," he grinned and she almost growled at him in return.

"Get out so I can get changed."

"Fine, but you're going to have to get used to the idea that we are sharing a room."

She narrowed her eyes at him as she watched him stand from the bed and move over to the door before leaving her alone. A retaliation had been on the top of her tongue but she couldn't get the words out, embarrassment and worry flooded through her veins. It wasn't as though she was conscious about her body, she was just awkward about things like that and she really wasn't looking forward to sharing a room with him. She had a feeling that it was going to go badly.

* * *

After regaining her composure and putting on some clothes, a dark tight blue dress with a conservative neckline, she had to gather the courage to actually leave the room, there was no way she could just stay there all day whilst his family were downstairs, it would be incredibly rude. She just felt awkward, like she was an intruder, even though his mother had made out that it was the opposite, she still sensed that there was hesitation from his family. Especially his grandfather.

With one last glance in the mirror, she threw all caution to the wind and opened the door, forcing herself to go down the stairs before she bottled it and turned back. There was chatter coming from the sitting room and she peeped around the doorway, seeing that there were people she hadn't yet met crowded around all clearly wanting to talk to Robin.

With a flick of her short curls, she summoned the air of confidence she needed and swanned into the room as though she owned it, despite the nervousness bubbling in the pit of her stomach. Her "Robin."

"Hey you," he grinned, for a moment it caught her off guard because that looked so genuine and the way he was staring at her was scarily realistic.

She returned the smile, when she reached him he wrapped an arm around her waist and pressed a kiss to the top of her head. She had to force herself not to let her eyes widen at the feeling. "Are you going to introduce me?" she asked, looking at the two men stood in front of them, both of whom were staring at her.

"Of course, yes. Regina, these are my brothers…"

"Graham and David," she interrupted.

"Exactly," he nodded, gesturing to which one was which, "guys, this is Regina, she's…"

"The massive pain in your arse! Hey, nice to meet you, we've heard so much about you," the taller of the two stated.

Regina rose an eyebrow at him, she had to admit she hadn't been expecting that reaction.

"David," the other scoffed, "don't mind my brother, he's an arse most of the time. Lovely to meet you, Regina. Its been a long while since Robin has brought anyone home."

"You mean never, don't you?" David chuckled, "I don't think I have ever once met one of Robin's girlfriends, apart from Marian."

"Yeah, but Marian was different."

"I guess you're right about that one, she always was his…"

"Guys, enough about Marian, we're not talking about her right now. You're meeting Regina."

"Right yeah. So, Regina, what are your intentions with our brother?" David asked.

She realised that the blue eyes ran in the family, not only that, but they all seemingly had the same sense of humour. David's face was cleanly shaved whereas Graham had stubble similar to Robin's, she knew that he was the younger of the three and could tell just from looking at him that he was a heartbreaker. "Well, I should have thought they were pretty obvious."

"Aside from sex though, what are you planning to do with him."

"I suppose…"

"Will you be making an honest man of him Regina?" he probed and god this man was like his brother, just as annoying if not even more so, at least Robin's annoying tendencies were just about tolerable. Graham just stood there smirking at her, his eyes smouldering in a way she didn't exactly think was appropriate considering that Robin was stood right there.

"Well…"

"Because I think you need to drag his ass down the aisle."

"If you would let me get a word in edgeways maybe I would be able to tell you that…"

"We're getting married!" Robin interrupted and all of a sudden, the whole room went silent, apparently, he'd said it a little louder than he had originally been planning on. She glanced at him and noticed that whilst she had been focusing on answering David, she hadn't been watching Robin, clearly, he'd been getting worked up by his brother's pestering.

"Robin! What did you just say?" his mother asked, hurrying over to them with a tray of snacks in her hands. She looked from Robin back to Regina in disbelief.

Regina thought that she might just throw up, it wasn't supposed to go that way.

"I said we're getting married. I asked Regina to marry me and she said yes, so, yeah."

Silence. The room was absolutely silent and she just wanted to run, run as fast as she could and give up.

"Well congratulations!" his mother beamed, placing the tray down and wrapping her arms around Regina for the second time that day. "Isn't this just wonderful news. George, did you hear they're getting married," she hummed turning to look at someone behind them.

Regina realised that she hadn't even met his father yet, he was looking at them from where he was stood by the fireplace, "yes, wonderful. I would have liked to meet Regina first before you told me you were marrying her, but yes, congratulations son. The first one of our children to get married."

"Dad, David got married…"

"He was sixteen, that doesn't count. Plus, how long did that marriage last? I know this one will last longer than that shambles," he scoffed.

Regina glanced at the man who had been teasing her a few moments earlier as a blush tinted his cheeks and she couldn't help the spiteful smirk that made its way onto her face, the way she saw it his father's words were karma for making her feel uncomfortable. There was also a part of her that was panicking, this was fake and would certainly not be lasting longer than it took for her visa to safely be registered.

"Pretty sure it still counts but whatever," David murmured under his breath, she really had to stop herself from snickering.

"Well you're divorced now, so it doesn't really."

"I still got married."

"Right, okay, but I choose to forget about that mistake," the older man quipped before moving closer to them. "Well then, seems we have a lot to talk about," he chuckled, heading into the kitchen and gesturing for Robin and Regina to follow him, leaving David grumbling at Graham's continuation of their father's teasing.

* * *

All in all, Regina felt that the initial meeting of Robin's family went relatively well, she felt that most of them liked her, although she knew David wasn't convinced and she hadn't really seen Robin's grandfather much to see what he thought. Luckily it had been buffet style snacks and not a sit-down dinner, she was alright as long as she was able to move around and talk to different people.

The room had been packed and it wasn't even the proper party, there had been aunts and uncles, cousins and a whole array of different family members in attendance. She hadn't known there would be that many if she had she might have opted for staying in her room after all. Yet she couldn't complain, it had gone well and that was something she was thankful for.

She retired to the room before Robin, excusing herself and retreating to the private sanctuary. She had no idea how the sleeping arrangements were going to go, but she was sure that they'd work it out.

By the time Robin appeared she was ready for bed and situated slap bang in the middle of it, he scoffed at her before grabbing some blankets and the pillow that she had been leaning against causing her to drop down a little on the bed. "I take it you're sleeping in the bed then?"

"I have a bad back."

"Of course, you do," he rolled his eyes as he laid the cushion on the plush rug at the bottom of the bed.

"Why aren't you sleeping on the chaise long?"

"Think I might be too tall for that. Don't worry about me, I'm sure the floor will be more than comfortable."

She could hear the sarcasm dripping from his words, but what did he want her to do? She'd offer him the bed but he'd just protest and say that she should have it, so what was the point of even going through the rigmarole? "Would you like another pillow?" she offered.

"Really? You'd give me one of your precious pillows."

"Are you going to continuously be a dick on this trip?" Regina asked, raising an eyebrow at him as she grabbed one of the cushions and practically flung it at his head. Luckily, he had good reflexes and caught it before it hit him square in the face.

"Probably yeah, but I think I deserve to be a bit of a dick when I'm being forced to marry you."

"Well then, I was going to offer you the bed, but now I don't think I'll bother," she huffed, a guilty feeling starting to nag at her for what she was making him do. "Goodnight," she scoffed, turning off the lamp and leaving the room in darkness, knowing full well he wasn't ready for bed yet.

"Oh, how mature."

"I need my beauty sleep."

"What? Run out of potions to keep yourself looking better than Snow White."

"Oh, stop it, everyone knows that the Evil Queen was hotter than that shrill-voiced princess."

"She was an old hag."

"No, she disguised herself as an old hag there's a difference."

"The magic mirror doesn't lie?"

"I thought beauty was in the eye of the beholder," she scoffed. She couldn't quite believe they were arguing about fairy tales in the pitch black whilst he was probably stood at the foot of the bed contemplating his next move. "Are you literally just standing there?"

"What do you expect me to do? You turned the lights off on me."

With a groan, she reached over and turned the lights back on, "you better hurry because I really need to go to sleep and I can't sleep with the lights on."

"Did I not tell you of my fear of the dark? I can't sleep without the lights on."

"Robin, you were in the dark a couple of seconds ago, so don't even think of feeding me that rubbish. Get ready, you have five minutes before the lights go off again."

"Are you timing me?"

"Yes," she nodded as she turned and buried the side of her face against the pillow, trying to find a comfortable position, her eyes locked on the alarm clock that sat on the bedside table. She could hear him moving around, digging in his bag for something before he headed out of the room, most likely to go to the bathroom.

The minutes ticked by and as soon as the five were up, she flicked the switch on the lamp and lay in wait, eager to see what his reaction would be to the room being in total darkness when he tried to come back inside. It wasn't long before he re-emerged.

"You actually turned the light off, seriously?"

She didn't answer him, pretending that she was already asleep, she was listening though, waiting for some kind of indication as to what he was doing or where in the room he was. A couple of seconds later she heard a clatter and some curse words come from him, she really had to stop herself from giggling as he swore under his breath. She had a feeling he'd just stubbed his toe or something, he'd definitely collided with a piece of furniture.

Suddenly though she was caught off guard by a heavyweight landing partially on top of her, "hey!" she squealed, flailing her arms and managing to smack him square in the face.

"Geeze Regina!"

"What the hell!"

"You turned the lights off, it isn't my fault."

"Well you knew you were staying on the floor, not on the bed," she huffed, shoving him a little before flicking the switch once again and having to adjust her eyes to the light in the room. She glanced at him and saw a red mark blossoming on his cheek.

"Oh, so now you turn the lights on," he tutted, moving off the bed and finding his sleeping area.

"Just go to sleep Robin," Regina murmured, as she plunged the room into darkness once again, satisfied that he was settled and wouldn't be making any more disturbances.

She tried to find a comfy position, but it was hard when she wasn't in her own bed, she was used to having a certain mattress and pillow, she'd wanted to bring her own pillow but Robin had snatched it from her and forced her to leave it at home. After a little wriggling, she finally found a position that she felt was going to work for her, though the feeling was short-lived as yet another pillow was whipped out from under her head. "Robin!"

"What? I need another pillow."

"I was just getting off to sleep."

"Yeah, good for you. That floor is harder than you might think."

"Suck it up," she huffed, "do you need any more pillows before I actually sleep?" To be honest, the number of pillows on the bed was a little excessive, she didn't know why his mother had put so many on there, though it seemed that was a blessing in disguise for this situation.

"I think I'm all set now."

"Good. Well, goodnight Robin."

"Goodnight Regina."

* * *

She had no idea what time it was when she next awoke, however, her throat felt as dry as the desert and she was positively parched. Carefully she slid out of bed and felt along the walls, following them towards the door, she didn't know why Robin had found it so difficult to navigate when she'd turned the lights off, for her it seemed easy.

Once she was out onto the landing, she made her way towards the stairs, it was still dark though, the only light was coming from the moon through the window at the end. As soon as she was safely downstairs, she found the light switch, the house was silent, a clear sign that everyone was asleep upstairs, she didn't want to wake them by turning on a light up there.

She took a glass from the cupboard and poured herself a glass of wafted from the tap. Robin told her that the water here was really good from the tap and she had to agree with him, it certainly didn't taste like that in London. Once her thirst was quenched, she glanced at a door she hadn't been through and without thinking that it might be rude to look through someone's house she opened it and was sprang upon by something large and fury. Her initial instinct was to scream and she did, letting out a deafening screech that seemed to scare the beast that had just jumped at her.

She backed away to the counter and only then did she realise her mistake, a border collie, without the typical stripe up its nose, was sat with its head tilted, staring directly at her as if trying to work out what the hell was wrong with her. To be fair though she had good reason to scream, it had startled her and how was she to know that the adorable dog watching her now wasn't going to maul her to death.

She heard thudding above her and then footsteps coming quickly down the stairs. Shit.

Robin appeared at the kitchen door with a panicked expression on his face, "what happened?! Are you okay?"

"Hmm," she nodded, watching as his mother father and brothers also emerged behind him. Damn, had she really screamed that loudly?

"What the hell was that then?"

"You didn't tell me you had a dog," she whispered, twiddling her thumbs awkwardly.

"Seriously? That scream was because you saw Meg?"

"To be fair I didn't know she was there and she jumped up on me," Regina stated pointing a finger at the dog, who seemingly took that as an instruction to come. She shuffled over, her head rubbing against Regina's hand, making her pull it back quickly, again earning a tilt of the head from the dog.

"Well dear, as long as you're alright I think we'll all go back to bed," his mother nodded as everyone but Robin retreated. She'd noticed Graham had been chuckling, David had looked annoyed and his mother and father didn't really seem to mind, though she guessed that they probably weren't too happy about it.

She looked down at her hands and then back up again, "sorry."

"Seriously? You were scared of her? She's a big softie and never hurt anyone," Robin laughed as he moved over to the dog and fussed her a little. "Are you coming back upstairs or do you want to stay down here with your new friend?"

"Very funny," she scoffed moving past him only to have the dog follow her, trotting along behind her.

"She clearly thinks you are friends."

"Whatever."

"Also, I can't believe that's what you're wearing to sleep in."

She stopped at the bottom of the stairs and turned to look at him, "what's wrong with these?"

"They're a little flimsy that's all."

"Well, I thought I'd be in a hotel room, alone. Not staying in a house with your entire family," she scoffed glancing down at the silky lavender short pyjama set that had lace on the hems. They weren't even what she would consider to be sexy so she didn't know what he was taking about.

She made her way back to the room and when she reached it, she realised that he'd turned the lights on, with a malicious smirk she flicked the switch and plunged the room into darkness. She found her way over to the bed and got back in waiting a moment for his reaction.

"Not again! Regina."

She giggled and buried her face in her pillow as she listened to him trying to find his way back to where he was sleeping.

"For that, you're on the floor tomorrow night."

"Yeah, you keep thinking that," she chuckled, flinging a cushion at him and earning a muffled groan in response. Regina smiled to herself and focused on getting in the rest of the sleep she would need to endure the next day.


	3. Cows!

The next morning, she dressed in a pair of suit pants and a burgundy blouse, only to be met with disdain from Robin, who was also rubbing his back and mumbling about the hard floor. "I don't get what's wrong with this outfit."

"Nothing is wrong with it in general, but considering what we'll be doing today, I don't think its really going to work. At all."

"Why?" she narrowed her eyes at him, she didn't know what his comment meant, but it sounded like something she should be marginally worried about.

"Because, we have plans and that outfit isn't really appropriate, unless you want it to get damaged, then by all means."

"Damaged? What the hell are we going to be doing today for it to get damaged?"

"Just you wait and see."

"Why don't I like the sound of that?"

"Do you have any jeans?"

"Seriously?"

"Yes, seriously."

"No, I don't, not with me anyway."

"Well I'll just have to find you something then," he shrugged before leaving her standing in the bedroom with not a clue about what was going on. She wasn't going to wait for him to come back so decided to head down to the kitchen and see what everyone else in the family was doing, she also wanted to apologise again for accidentally waking them all in the middle of the night, she was still a little bit mortified about that.

When she reached the kitchen, she stopped in the doorway and took in their attire, they were all in scruffy overalls, Robin's mother had her greying hair thrown up in a high ponytail as she leant against the counter in green waterproofs, sipping from a mug of tea. "Regina dear, good morning. I do hope you slept well after the little scare you had with Meg."

"Oh yes, thank you, I'd like to apologise for waking you all, I feel terrible about it."

"Oh, don't worry sweetie," she waved it off, holding out a mug of, from what Regina could tell, was coffee. She took it gratefully and brought it to her lips, she was right in her guesses and it was delicious.

"Robin said I was overdressed but he didn't tell me what we'd be doing so…"

"You really don't have to take part if you don't want to, you can stay here and keep Roland and Anna company. George and the boys will all be coming out with myself, if you want to join, I can lend you some clothes."

"Join you doing what?"

"I got you some clothes to wear honey bun, of course, she's coming with us mum, she said she was really excited when I told her about it, she must have just forgotten."

Regina glared at Robin as he came into the kitchen, why was he making out as though she was stupid? She had a feeling that this was going to be an activity that she wasn't going to enjoy, especially if overalls were a requirement. She'd never worn a pair of overalls in her life. "It must have slipped my mind," she replied sweetly, eyeing the clothes in his arms, the worry was bubbling up inside now, she shouldn't have been so mean to him the night before.

"Here you go, why don't you go change into them, we'll have some breakfast and then we can head out."

"Wonderful," she quipped, forcing a smile onto her face as she took the clothes from him and turned to head to the bathroom.

* * *

When she returned to the kitchen, she was wearing a plain white t-shirt with denim dungarees which were a little too big for her, the look was completed with a tartan woollen fleece, something she would never have been seen dead in.

"Aww! Look at you, cutie pie! You look absolutely adorable sweetums."

"Isn't that the fury guy from the muppets," Robin's father piped up as he glanced at them from behind the newspaper, he was reading at the breakfast island.

"I believe so," Caroline chuckled, "don't tease them, George."

Regina groaned as she found a seat beside Robin, "I can't believe you're doing this to me."

"Yeah I know that you can't wait to see what we're gonna do," he grinned mischievously as he rested his chin on her shoulder, his arms wrapping around her middle making her freeze up a little. It was the closest she had ever been to him and she didn't really know what to make of it. He was warm around her, engulfing her in his large arms, she caught a want of the scent she knew belonged to him, a fresh pine aroma.

A large smile blossomed on his mother's face as she watched them and there was that nagging guilt once again, pushing itself to the forefront.

"Well then, who's ready to wrangle some cattle?" David asked as he came into the kitchen and clapped his hands.

"What?" Regina asked, her eyes widened as she stared at Robin, he hadn't said anything about cows. "What are we doing?"

"The cattle are due for their medical, we need to go and herd them up from the fields and bring them to the barn."

"Seriously?" Oh god no.

"Yep, come on sweet cheeks," Robin pushed himself off the stool.

"What about..."

The toaster pooped and Robin caught the toast, he spread some butter on it before handing it to her. "We'll eat on the go," he quipped, taking a bite from his toast as she simply stared at him dumbfounded.

"Come on baby."

"You want me to wrangle cattle in heels?"

"What size are your feet?"

"I'm a six."

"Mum, what size are you?"

"I'm a seven but witch some thick socks I'm sure they'll fit just fine. I'll go find you some," she smiled kindly before disappearing out of the kitchen into the little room the dog had jumped out from the day before. Regina was half expecting it to come bounding out, but apparently, that wasn't going to happen.

"Robin, I don't think I can do this," she murmured.

"Course you can, you'll be great at it. You even told me yourself."

"Told you what?"

"That you were an animal person not a people person, this should be right up your street."

"Well, apparently I lied, excuse me if I don't wish to be trampled on by a herd of cows."

"Aww come on baby, they're not gonna trample you, as long as you don't intimidate them."

"How will I know if I'm intimidating them?"

"Who gave Regina a red jacket when we're going in with them?" David asked around a mouthful of toast.

"Wait, why? Robin?"

"Don't you know bulls charge at the colour red?" David huffed.

"Are you serious? Robin!" She squealed louder than she had intended, "why would you give me this jacket if you knew they'd chase me."

"God, babe they're not gonna chase you. David stop being a dick, your teasing isn't charming," Robin huffed.

Caroline emerged from the side room with a pair of wellington boots and some thick socks in her hands, "here you are, these should fit you just fine."

"Great, let's go." Robin clapped as they all moved to put their boots on, Regina just stared at them. She didn't want to do it, but she also felt as though she had no option, she could hardly back out now, not when she was already changed and holding a pair of borrowed wellingtons.

Reluctantly she pulled the socks onto her feet and followed them into the hallway where they were all stood waiting for her. She sat down on the bench that was placed perfectly so you could put your shoes on, she couldn't remember the last time she'd worn a pair of wellies, it had been a long time.

"Well, don't you just look like a little farmer."

"Robin," she warned glancing up at him as his parents and David went outside without them, leaving them alone in the hallway. "I know that you're doing this on purpose and you probably think that its really funny, but I don't think that it's funny."

"Get down off your high horse, do you really think that this is all an act and that we wouldn't be doing this if you weren't here? This is what we do, my parents have a farm, we take care of animals, this is my childhood and I thought maybe you would want to take the chance to get to know a little more about what I grew up doing since we're getting married, but apparently I was mistaken. Guess I'd forgotten just how self-centred you are."

"Robin! I am trying! I really am, do you really think I would be putting these boots on if I wasn't willing to try. I do want to get to know more about you and I want your parents to like me. Despite what you might think, I do want to get to know you better. So, quit it with the moral high ground and give me a god damn break already." She stood from the chair and straightened her outfit. "So, is this really what people wear on the farm?"

"In Yorkshire, it is," he nodded with a little chuckle. He was wearing a pair of dungarees himself, but unlike her denim ones, his were blue and quite clearly waterproof, she had a feeling that they were going to get quite muddy. As long as she didn't get trampled by cows she could deal with a little mud.

As soon as she was out of the front door, she was nearly knocked off her feet by a blur of black and white, Meg ran into the courtyard and straight over to her, her face rubbing against Regina's hands as she barked happily, clearly wanting to be stroked. "Hello again," Regina murmured, she was still quite wary about the animal even though it seemed she had nothing to be worried about.

"She really does love you," Graham grinned as he wandered over to them, he was already covered in mud, he'd clearly been out beforehand, she had worried where he'd been when they were all in the kitchen.

"Did you take her on a walk?"

"Yeah but just a quick one, she's going to be doing her fair share of work today, didn't want to tire her out."

Regina smiled as she ran her finger's through the dog's fur, it seemed content just sitting by her feet. "Does she help with the cows?"

"Yeah, and the others," the youngest brother nodded before whistling loudly. Regina watched on as three more dogs similar to Meg appeared from around the corner. "These are mine. You've got Jack, Luna and Bella." The three dogs sat at his feet obediently. One of them, the boy, was a merle. The girl, Luna, was mostly white with one black ear and a black splodge on her back. Then the last one, Bella, was brown and white with the typical white strip. "Meg is mum and dad's and sometimes I think she's deaf because she has a hard time doing what I tell her to do."

"Hey, leave our Meg alone," Caroline tutted.

"Not my fault that you haven't trained your dog properly."

"I think she's great," Regina quipped as she looked down at the dog who was rubbing her nose against the palm of her hand.

"Thank you, Regina. Anyway, shall we head out, hopefully, we'll have this finished by the afternoon and we'll be able to find something else to keep us occupied. Emma said she would be coming over later."

Regina nodded, she'd still to meet Robin's sister, but from what he'd said she was the most laid back of the lot, so she wasn't going to worry about it. Robin moved closer to her, his arm wrapping around her waist before pulling her into his side. "You ready for this?"

"As I'll ever be," she nodded, Meg was trotting happily along by her side whilst the rest of the family walked ahead. "What exactly is it that we do? Aren't the dogs the ones doing the rounding up?"

"Yeah, pretty much, we've just got to make sure that they don't go off course, if they get spooked or anything they can accidentally injure themselves and we don't want that to happen. Basically, we just make sure the dogs do their job and get the cows back safely to the barns."

"Do you only have cattle or are there some sheep also?"

"Yeah, there are some sheep, but they are usually left to roam the moors, they're really hardy, much more so than the cows, so they take care of themselves. We check up on them now and again but they seem to be self-sufficient. Obviously, because the cows are more valuable and more things can go wrong with them, we keep them close by."

Regina offered him a small smile, it was nice to know more about his roots, find out what he had come from, what he was used to. Hopefully, the next few days would allow for much more of that.

Once she was out in the fields she realised that she had every right to be a little concerned about managing to help herd the cows, they were massive and she could only imagine how heavy they were.

"Robin I'm not sure about this," she murmured.

"Don't worry, you'll be fine," he reassured.

"Yes, but will I get trampled on?"

"If you were going to get trampled on then you wouldn't be fine would you?"

"Alright smart arse, but I'm being serious. Will I get trampled on?"

"No, not if you do what I say, then you'll be just fine. Okay then, let's get started shall we," he clapped his hands and turned to his parents who nodded in agreement. "Right sweetie, can you go and stand with Meg and wait there?"

Regina looked around and saw Meg sat at the far end of the field, seemingly away from where any of the cows were and anywhere there weren't cows was somewhere she wanted to be. When the dog noticed she was coming her way her tail began wagging and Regina couldn't help the small chuckle that left her mouth. "Hey girl," she hummed, gently touching her head and stroking behind her ears. Although nearly as soon as she was there someone whistles and Meg shot off, running towards the cows with zero hesitation, the other three doing the same. She watched them as she worried her lip between her teeth, she didn't know what they were going to do next but clearly, the Locksleys' did, they were wrangling the cattle, making them move and using the dogs to help them.

A series of whistles and shouted commands later and the cows were coming directly towards her, being led by the dogs with the humans as backup. Her eyes widened as she looked at Robin, "what do I do?" She asked as they made their way closer. "Robin!"

"Go open the gate baby!"

She looked behind her and noticed the large metal gate that led into another field, she nodded and hurried towards it, anything to get her further away from the cows. Once she reached it, she fiddled with the latch, trying to pull it across but it was stiff and the bolt wouldn't move, the cattle were getting nearer and she was beginning to panic. She was way out of her depth. "Robin!"

"Just pull it."

"It's stuck."

"God, Regina just pull the bloody thing."

She fixed him a glare that she wasn't even sure he could see from his position before trying again to open the gate, using both hands to pull on the bolt that was held tightly in place by a rusted spring.

Meg ran towards her and she realised that the dog had been leading the front of the herd, the gate still wasn't open and they were right there. Without even thinking she scrambled over it and landed on the other side, but because she hadn't been looking her feet slipped out from under her and she landed in a muddy bog, her ass sinking into the dirt as she squealed, staring up at a cow that was peering over the gate at her, it's big eyes blinking as it probably wondered what the hell she was doing.

"Shit, are you okay?" Graham asked, patting the cow to get it to move before climbing over the gate himself and landing much more gracefully than she had. He offered her a hand which she gladly took and the sound of laughter met her ears as she glanced towards the gate and saw Robin looking at her.

"What in the world were you doing?"

"They were coming! I freaked out, they're huge."

"They wouldn't have done anything."

"What if I'd been crushed?" She scoffed, fixing him with a glare that she knew he would see this time. "The gate is stuck l..."

Robin pulled on the bolt opening the gate easily and she shook her head in defeat.

"Yeah, this gate really seems to be stuck," he quipped, sarcasm dripping from his tone.

"How did you even do that?"

"With ease," he chuckled looking her up and down, "wow, just wow. Can I take a photo to remember this moment by?"

"What do you think?" she hissed, the wet mud really was caked on, soaking through her borrowed dungarees and into her panties. "This is disgusting."

"You look like you fit right in," Graham grinned patting her on the back before heading back to the cows.

"If you don't want to see the cows you better run and open that other gate, I'll give you a head start," Robin quipped.

"I hate you."

"You love me really and you know it," he chuckled, nudging her playfully. Regina caught the smile on his parents faces as they shared a look. "Run along then, the cows won't wait forever."

* * *

As soon as the cows had been led to the barn Regina left the Locksleys' to deal with it and headed inside the house to clean up, after falling in the thick mud she was in desperate need of a shower. She was quite sure that she stunk and that the puddle she had fallen into hadn't just been mud. As soon as she was under the flow of water, she allowed her body to relax, the warmness engulfed her body as the dirt swirled down the plug hole.

She foamed up her body wash and passed the flannel over her body, cleaning off the thick muck before making sure that her hair was properly rinsed off. Once she was clean, she simply stayed under in the shower, trying to get herself to relax, she must have been in there a good twenty minutes before there was a knock on the door of the bathroom.

Regina snapped out of her trance and turned off the water, she quickly slipped out of the shower and wrapped a towel around her before heading to the door of the bathroom. She knew exactly who would be at the other end of that door and she was ready to give him a piece of her mind about laughing at her misfortune.

She ripped the door open violently and went into a ramble of things that she wanted to say, "you utter arsehole! I can't believe you… Graham?"

"Hey, sorry, I just wanted to use the bathroom."

"Sorry, I thought you were Robin."

"I thought as much," the man chuckled, running a hand through his hair, "he's still downstairs. You're right though, he was a dick for laughing at you."

"I know," she nodded, leaning against the door frame and holding the towel tighter against her, "have you finished with the cows?"

"Yeah, we have. Are you all nice and clean now?" he asked, his eyes running over her frame before meeting hers once again.

"I think you know the answer to that one," she quipped, tucking a strand of her damp hair behind her ear and looking up at him with a small smile playing on her lips. She had to admit that he was quite easy on the eye, "are you taking a shower?"

"Yeah, you can join me if…"

"Seriously Graham?" Robin scoffed as he came along the landing, "that isn't even funny."

"I'm joking bro, don't worry," he grinned, winking at Regina before disappearing inside the bathroom.

Regina rose an eyebrow at Robin but he simply glared at her, shaking his head and moving into the bedroom. She rolled her eyes and followed him. "What the hell was that?"

"What?" Regina asked as she searched through her case for something to wear, she could feel his eyes on her and it was annoying. "Why are you staring at me?"

"Because I want to know what the fuck you were playing at out there. Flirting with my brother? For god's sake Regina!"

"Oh I'm sorry, I didn't know that I wasn't even allowed to talk to him."

"You are allowed to talk to him, but don't look at him as though you want to rip his bloody clothes off."

"Seriously? Get over yourself, Robin."

"How can you even deny it? I just saw you!"

"Robin! All I was doing was talking to him, stop it."

"You're actually so annoying!" He yelled, stalking closer to her, "if you hate me so much, do you want to back out of this agreement? Why don't you just go ask Graham to help you out?"

She narrowed her eyes at him and shook her head, "god, you really are an arsehole."

"Think whatever you want to think," he spat, grabbing some clothes before retreating out of the bedroom and slamming the door behind him.

She stood staring at the door wondering how on earth that had just happened.


	4. Making amends

It was a couple of hours later when Regina finally found the courage to leave the room, she was nervous about facing Robin after what happened. He was mad at her and she couldn't understand what she had done that was so bad, it wasn't as though she had been the one to invite Graham to share her shower. Sure, she could have put an end to their conversation quicker than she had done, but she was just being friendly. So what if she might have been flirting a tiny bit.

It wasn't as though they were actually engaged, but she supposed she could see where he was coming from a little bit, as far as Graham knew, she was marrying his brother, so it was a little out of line for him to talk to her the way he had done. She was just shocked at how angry Robin had actually been.

Taking a deep breath, she straightened her black and white sweater before smoothing down the fabric of her black jeans. She didn't really know what to say and hoped to put it off for as long as possible. She ended up lingering in the doorway, peering around and spying on the family as they sat in the sitting room talking about all sorts. Robin was beside his Grandparents, his two brothers were on one couch and his parents were on another, there wasn't a spare seat and that was enough to put her on edge.

She had a feeling they were discussing the work they had done with the cattle earlier and she was considering whether she should go in or if it would be best to just go back up to the room and pretend that she didn't exist.

"What are we meant to be looking at?" A whispered voice met her ears and she felt a presence behind her, also peering into the sitting room. She whipped around and came face to face with a tall blonde wearing a red leather jacket and a cheeky smirk.

"Oh… I…"

"Were you spying on my family?" the woman asked with a chuckle, still keeping the noise down.

"No, I just. I didn't want to intrude and…"

"Trust me they don't bite."

"I know that," Regina murmured, seeing the sparkle in the woman's green eyes, they certainly didn't match those of her brothers', she was assuming this woman was Emma, but she didn't know for sure. She'd seen childhood photos strewn around but couldn't be certain. "I just feel somewhat out of place."

"Not going to lie to you, you do look a little out of place."

"Oh, thank you very much."

"I meant it in the nicest possible way, it's not an insult trust me. You're just not like any of the girls my brothers usually bring home, you're clearly a woman… I mean, you look like a classy bird and well, my brothers aren't exactly classy if you catch my drift."

"I think I do but I can't be certain." The woman's accent was thicker than Robin's, Graham had a hint of the Yorkshire lilt in his voice, but any accent Robin might have had seemed to have disappeared since he moved to London.

"I'm Emma by the way."

"I thought as much. Regina."

"Robin's boss slash fiancée, got it. Can't say I'm at all surprised, people love a good enemy to lovers' trope. I bet you act like you hate each other when secretly you both want to tear one another's clothes off and have at it."

Regina simply stared at the woman, she didn't exactly know how to reply to that comment. If she had a brother or sister, she didn't think that she would want to even think about them having sex or anything like that, maybe that was because her family had been extremely conservative with their opinions. Growing up, sex had been a taboo subject in her house, one she had made sure never to bring up. "Something like that."

"I knew it! The moment he came home and told me that he hated you but you were hot I knew that this would happen!"

"Robin hated me?"

Emma's smile faltered a little as she shrugged her shoulder, "so hate might have been a bit of a strong word. And I know that he must love you now. To even bring you here to meet us he must really be invested in your relationship, he doesn't let us meet anyone."

"I see."

"Now are you coming in there or are you going to run off and hide?"

"I suppose I'll come in," she stated quietly. Robin hated her. Great. That was just great. She knew that many of her employees had a dislike for her but she'd never thought that Robin was one of them, sure she had known about his distaste for her sometimes when she was in one of her moods, but she'd thought that was all it was, maybe she'd been mistaken.

"Look who I found loitering on the corridor," Emma quipped as she gestured to Regina before making her way into the room and hugging her family members.

Regina's eyes fell onto Robin but he wasn't looking back at her, in fact, he was looking at anyone but her. He was still angry it seemed and she didn't know if she would be best sucking it up and apologising, not that she knew exactly what it was that she was apologising for.

"Hey," Graham grinned as he moved closer to her.

She offered him an awkward smile before taking a deep breath and pleading for the courage to do what she had to, "can I please talk to you about something?" she asked, looking up at the man whose smirk grew as he nodded and lead her out into the kitchen.

"Hey, what did you want to talk about?" he asked, going to the fridge and grabbing a beer for himself and offering one to her, but she shook her head in response.

"I just… earlier the whole bathroom situation. It was a little inappropriate," she whispered awkwardly, she knew he had been joking but she also felt as though she needed to set some boundaries and clarify that she was with Robin. Not that she was actually with Robin, but they needed everyone to think that, including his brother.

"Was it what I said about joining me in the shower?"

"Yes, that."

"Shit, I'm sorry, I didn't know it would offend you, I was just joking around."

"Yes, I know that, but Robin, he wasn't happy about it and I just feel like you overstepped just a little. I'm his fiancée and were getting married so… I guess what I'm trying to say is, as much as I am flattered by your flirting, I'm marrying your brother and there is a line that has to be respected."

"Yeah, I totally get it. Sorry. I guess I got carried away, you're gorgeous and I forgot myself. Forgive me?" he asked, pouting at her in a way that had her rolling her eyes.

"Okay, but really, this can't happen again. I really need Robin in my life and I can't jeopardise our relationship over meaningless flirting."

"Right, message received," he nodded before awkwardly walking out of the kitchen and leaving her alone with her thoughts.

She took a deep breath and leant against the counter, she knew that had been necessary and she had been stupid to even flirt around with him earlier that day. The next step was to talk to Robin, but that one was going to take much more effort than talking to Graham had, she didn't really understand why he had been as annoyed as he had been but knew that she was going to have to find a way to make it up to him.

"Are you hiding in here already?" Emma asked as she reappeared, walking straight over to the fridge, "you look like you have a lot on your mind."

"I suppose I do," she nodded with a sigh.

"I know we don't know each other really, but do you want to talk about it?"

"Not really, I don't talk about feelings."

"Sounds like someone else I know," Emma laughed, "you and Robin really are made for one another. He's just as much of a thought harbourer as you are."

"What has he actually told you about me. Don't sugar coat it, I want to know."

"Well, there have been quite a few tales told over the years and from what I could gather it sounded quite like he hated you most of the time," the blonde woman winced as she grabbed herself a drink and moved to lean against the counter opposite Regina. "I know the family were a little shocked when Robin called and told us that he was bringing you home to meet us all and that you were his girlfriend. I think though, to be honest, I had a feeling that there was more to his hatred of you than what it actually was. Like I said earlier, you have the enemies to lover's vibe going on."

Regina didn't know about that one, all she was hearing was that Robin hadn't liked her and now he had sprung it on his family out of the blue that they were getting married. It sounded suspicious and the worry began to blossom once again at the thought of this not going according to plan. "Well, I love your brother so…"

"Good, I'm glad, it's about time he found someone that made him happy. God knows Marian broke most of the trust he had in women."

"David and Graham mentioned her yesterday. Did she mean a lot to Robin?"

"Yeah, she was one of his first girlfriends and everyone thought that they would get married one day, but that didn't happen."

"Why? If they were so in love, why didn't they get married I…"

"You ladies gossiping in here?" Robin asked as he appeared in the doorway, his eyes meeting hers and she couldn't tell if he was still mad at her, there was a smile on his face but she couldn't be sure.

"You know me, Robin, I'm always one for a gossip," Emma winked, "I'm going to head back into the sitting room."

"Okay," Regina nodded, tucking some of her hair behind her ear as she was left alone with Robin, "can we go somewhere private to talk?"

"You still want to talk to me after I was an idiot this morning?" he asked, running his fingers through his hair in a way that almost made him seem nervous.

"Yes, I feel that we have quite a bit to talk about."

"Okay, I suppose we can head back to our room for a few minutes," he quipped before leading her up the stairs and towards their bedroom. She followed behind him knowing that this conversation was inevitable and she would rather get it over and done with, they needed to get back on better terms if they wanted this to work.

Once they the door was closed behind them Regain knew she just needed to get what she needed to say off her chest, "I talked to Graham about what happened earlier."

"What? Why?" Robin narrowed his eyes at her.

"I told him that his comments were inappropriate and that I didn't like it."

"You did?"

"Yes, I did. I know you weren't happy about it and I'm sorry, it won't happen again."

"If we're going to do this, we need I look as though we're actually engaged and that means being honest with each other."

"Yes, I agree. Do you want to tell me why his comment got you so annoyed and why you went off on one?"

"I'm sorry," Robin sighed, moving to sit on the edge of the bed, his hands rubbing over his face, "it's just Graham has always been able to get everything that he wants, even if that something belongs to someone else."

Regina rose an eyebrow and moved over to perch beside him, "why do I have a feeling that this isn't just about childhood toys."

"Ha, he took them too, but no. He always seems to go after women that I'm with, he's charming that way."

"Is this about Marian?"

"How do you know about Marian?"

"Emma told me."

"Oh, well yeah, after Marian I just stopped bringing people home to meet the family, I know it sounds stupid, but I'd like he's trained in the art of seduction."

Regina chuckled and shook her head, "I had a friend back home who was just the same."

"You had a friend?"

"Haha, very funny. It might be a surprise to you that I have friends but I do, well, back in America anyway," she whispered the last part. She didn't really have anyone here; all her friends were still overseas and with work, she'd had little time to make any since she'd been in Britain. "We went to school together and she would always try and seduce the teachers, she didn't even care what gender," Regina chuckled remembering how Mal would flirt shamelessly with literally anyone.

"Do you miss her?"

"God, all the time. We talk but it's just not the same, she was my first..." she stopped herself, not wanting to tell him about that, not yet anyway. "Friend, she was my only true friend, the only one who really understood me."

"You're quite a complicated person to understand," Robin grinned, nudging her playfully causing her to roll her eyes and push him back. "I think that I understand you well enough though. You're not as harsh as you make out to be."

"Ah, I don't know about that one."

"Think what you want, but I know that you're not all bad."

"Well thank you, I hope that was meant to be a compliment."

"I suppose it was," he chuckled before standing from the bed again, "come on, let's start again. Forget about Graham and just try to enjoy this trip."

Regina nodded in agreement and took his offered hand before going with him to re-join his family.

* * *

The rest of the day had passed rather uneventfully, she had been out to visit the horses with Robin and learnt how to muck them out. This was something she had done before and shocked him with her skills, what she didn't relay was that she knew because of the horses at her boarding school and how she had been put on stable duty most of the time. Horses used to be her method of escape, but it had been nearly fifteen years since she had even petted one. It had been nice for her to be around the majestic creatures once again.

In the time they had been at the stables she had been able to learn a bit more about Robin's past, finding out things she knew that she would need for the interview they would be having with immigration on their return to London. Yet she had allowed him very little insight into her past, she was reluctant to share with him she didn't know what it was but she never told anyone about her childhood, mainly because it hadn't been an exactly happy one.

As for the immigration interview, the first one had left their interviewer more than a little suspicious and that was why they were going to have to try extra hard if they wanted this to go according to plan. He had informed them that he would be keeping tabs on them and enquiring with people they knew. They had used the lie that because Robin was her assistant, they hadn't wanted anyone judging their relationship and Robin had cleverly added that he was in line for a promotion soon and they didn't want people thinking he had slept his way up the job ladder. This, of course, wasn't true, but seemingly it was going to be once they arrived home, he had made it one of the conditions.

They were sat around the dining table and Regina could feel Robin's grandfather's eyes on her, he still hadn't really talked to her and she was beginning to worry about it. There was a slight lull in the conversation and she took that as her chance to speak up, "so, Robin tells me that you're a keen fisherman," she stated, looking up at the old man and seeing him nod as he took a forkful of chicken from his plate.

"Robin hasn't told me much about you."

"Well, I'm really not all that interesting, but I bet you have many stories to tell," she glanced at Robin who was sat to her left and wondered not for the first time what he had told his grandfather about her.

"Sure," he nodded.

"Pops, why don't you tell Regina the story of how you and grandma met?" Robin prompted.

The old man looked at his grandson for a moment before relenting and nodding in agreement, "I met June during the post-war era, a couple of years after the war when I was just eighteen."

Regina glanced at Robin's grandmother who was smiling as she watched her husband, her heart clenched and she hoped that one day she would find someone to love her as strongly as the couple in front of her loved one another.

"He was a young and handsome cadet and we met at a dance, I was only sixteen at the time, but he swept me off my feet."

"She was the prettiest lass I'd ever laid eyes on and I knew that I had to make her mine."

"Two months later and we were married, my parents nearly had kittens, but I loved him from the moment I saw him. We've been together ever since. Doesn't mean we haven't had our ups and downs though, we certainly did."

"Hmm," the elderly man nodded, "seventy-two years later and here we are."

"That's amazing," Regina whispered, looking between the two of them in awe. "Thank you for sharing your story with me."

"I'd ask you how you met Robin, but we already know that you were his boss."

"Yes, it took a while for Robin and I to eventually fall for one another I must admit."

"Well, when you spend so much time with one person whether it be late night laboratory sessions or weekends away at science conferences, the connection is inevitable right?" Robin asked, allowing his arm to fall across the back of her chair.

"Something like that."

"I just don't understand why Robin didn't tell any of us that the two of you were dating, never mind engaged," Roland quipped.

"Well, that was probably my fault, I thought if anyone knew we were together it might jinx us. Then when Robin proposed I guess I realised it was probably time that people found out about." She offered his family a shy smile.

"How did he propose?" Caroline asked eagerly, "where's your ring? I was wondering that."

"Oh, he knew that I would want to choose my own ring, isn't that right?"

"Of course, it is sweetheart. Everyone knows that this woman is the most particular person on the planet, god forbid I buy her the wrong engagement ring. As for the proposal, I think Regina should tell this story, she's really good at it."

She cast him a tight-lipped smile to mask the expression of her want to murder him for putting her in it, they hadn't talked about a potential proposal story so she had no clue what to say. "Well, it was a hard time for me I have to admit, I thought maybe he was having an affair."

"What?!" Robin asked, nearly choking on the wine he had just sipped from his glass, "darling, you didn't tell me that."

"I know because I realised that I was being silly and you were actually planning the beautiful proposal, maybe you should talk more about the thought behind that."

"Well, since we're both so obsessed with science, I thought an interesting proposal would be to use a chemistry experiment." Regina nodded along with him, it sounded like a feasible idea. "Initially I was going to include a ring but I quickly realised that she would want to choose her own so I had to find another idea,"

"Okay son, we don't really need to hear the long version, skip to the proposal," his grandfather prompted.

"Fine. Well, I used a chemical reaction to spell out will you marry me and she said yes."

"It was quite the reaction," she smiled, "there was a lot of fire and colour and you did well to keep your eyebrows on your face," Regina grinned mischievously as she took a final bite of her chicken before placing her fork down. "Dinner was delicious, thank you."

"You're very welcome dear, time for dessert."

"Oh, thank you, but I don't eat desserts."

"One dessert won't kill you, sweetie," Robin quipped, his foot colliding with her shin under the table.

"I suppose you're right, I can't wait for dessert."


	5. Kindness is a funny thing

Once they retired to their room for the night it was nearing twelve am and Regina was feeling exhausted, she needed to get some sleep and was looking forward to just flopping on the bed. Meg the dog had been sat beside her the entire night, resting her head against her feet or legs, nudging her in a silent request to be petted.

Regina had managed to get away before Robin and she was certainly going to attempt to steal the bed once again, even though a part of her was saying that it was unfair for her to have the bed for the entirety of their stay, unfortunately for Robin the bigger part of her wanted that comfy mattress.

She went to the bathroom first to get ready for bed, she had to remove her makeup and complete her nightly routine before she could actually get a decent night's sleep. As soon as she was finished, she moved back to the bedroom, eager to climb into bed, only to find Robin sprawled out across it. "Oi, what are you doing!"

"Going to sleep, what does it look like?"

"You don't sleep there."

"Seriously? I thought we'd at least be alternating with who gets to sleep in the bed."

"What made you think that?" she scoffed, nudging him over and moving so that she could get under the duvet, there was no way she was sleeping on the floor. "I told you I have a bad back, I can't sleep on the floor."

"You really are something aren't you," he huffed, moving over a little so she had some more room. She could tell that he was reluctant to leave the bed, but she didn't know if she would be able to share with him. In the past she had always felt awkward when sharing a bed with another person, she would get anxious and not sleep a wink.

"Robin I…"

"Don't worry princess, I wouldn't want you to hurt your precious back," he sighed, moving out of the bed and back to where he had made a makeshift bunk on the floor. He'd pilled up blankets and pillows and she had to admit that it did look as though it was quite comfortable.

"Robin. I'll sleep on the floor," she reluctantly offered. She knew he was right; she was being a bitch by insisting that he allow her to sleep in the bed.

"Forget about it, I'm down here now. Could you please turn the light off?"

"Now?"

"Yeah, I'd like to go to sleep."

"Oh, okay, yes," she nodded, leaning over to turn off the light that sat on her bedside counter, plunging them into darkness. She didn't know how, but it was even more awkward than it had been the night before.

"We could always share the bed if you wanted," Regina whispered into the dark. She would try and sleep with him beside her, it was unfair that he had to sleep on the ground.

"I'm fine here, but thank you for offering."

"Am I really that repulsive that you wouldn't want to sleep beside me?" She asked.

"No of course not, you're really the opposite, but I wouldn't want to make you feel uncomfortable."

"I wouldn't be uncomfortable."

"I'm okay, honestly, just go to sleep Regina."

"Fine, but don't say I didn't offer," she murmured, now more awake than ever. It was silent in the room and she could hear his soft breathing coming from the bottom of the bed. She wondered if he was finding it as difficult to fall seep as she was, she didn't seem to remember having that problem the night before.

A little later after struggling for what seemed like hours to fall asleep, she heard scratching at the bedroom door, she sat up and furrowed her eyebrows. What the hell even was that? She crawled to the bottom of the bed and looked down, her eyes adjusted to the lack of light in the room, from what she could tell robin was already asleep. "Robin," she whispered as she climbed off the edge of the bed and moved to prod him. "Robin."

He groaned and rolled over, Regina sighed and turned to the door where the sound of scratching was still coming from. She silently tiptoed towards the door, before opening it a touch, as soon as she had, it was pushed open and a flash of black and white dashed past her and dove onto the bed. Regina looked towards it and saw a pair of eyes staring back at her, "hey there girl." She could just about make out the white tip of the dog's tail swishing in the dark.

"What are you doing in here?" She asked, closing the door before moving back to the bed and climbing on, as soon as she was under the covers Meg moved up closer to her and curled up beside her with her head resting on Regina's chest. "Did you want to sleep in bed with me girl? I don't know if you're allowed," she whispered, allowing her fingers to run through the dogs fur. The dog responded by snuggling closer and Regina shook her head before lying down properly with her arm wrapped around the border collie who seemed to be completely relaxed beside her.

She closed her eyes and felt the tension leave her as she snuggled further into the blankets, drifting off to sleep with the dog cuddled up beside her.

* * *

The next morning, she was startled awake by a knocking at the door, her eyes flashed open as she was practically trampled on by an excited dog who shot off the bed towards the entrance to greet her owner who was behind it. "I brought you breakfast in bed, hope you're both decent."

"Just a minute!" Regina called out, the panic rising within her chest, she grabbed one of her pillows and flung it at Robin, who was somehow still asleep, though to be fair he hadn't been stood on by a fully-grown border collie. "Robin!" she hissed, watching as he simply rolled over, snuggling further into his fort of blankets. "Wake up."

He groaned and shook his head, Regina began to freak out because there was no way she could leave Caroline waiting at the door forever, Robin needed to wake up and he needed to do it quickly before their entire cover was blown. Seeing no other alternative, she jumped off the bed and practically sat on top of him, "wake the fuck up!"

"Regina what the hell," he murmured, opening his eyes in alarm as he looked up at her with sleepy eyes.

"Your mother is at the door," she stated, standing from her position and grabbing some of the blankets he was using, as well as the cushion which had been his pillow.

"Shit," he scrambled to scoop everything up and dumped it all on top of her as she got back under the covers, before following her lead and sliding in on the other side.

"Okay, you can come in now Caroline," Regina quipped, Robin had moved closer to her than she had been expecting and he was practically spooning her back, to the point where she could feel something hard pressing against her ass, "what is that?" she whispered under her breath as the door opened.

"It's the morning."

"What do you mean it's the morning?"

"What do you think I mean?"

Her eyes widened in realisation and she glanced at him over her shoulder, "that is so gross."

"Good morning love birds," Caroline beamed as she came through the door, "I brought you a range of things, pastries, toast cereals and yoghurt, orange juice and coffee."

"Thank you it all looks amazing, you really shouldn't have gone to so much effort," Regina smiled kindly as she took in the wide spread Robin's mother had prepared for them.

"Oh it was no bother, I'm happy to do it. I thought you might be tired this morning after yesterday's activities."

Regina nodded, she was becoming more and more aware of Robin's appendage sticking into her back, his arms were wrapped around her as well and she hoped that their embrace looked genuine enough for his mother to believe it.

"Did you both sleep well?"

"Yes, wonderfully thanks," she looked around at Robin who was saying very little, his fingers were moving across her skin, tickling her gently, it was a strange sensation but not an unpleasant one. "The bed is very comfortable."

"Good, I'm glad, though I don't know why you need so many blankets," Caroline chuckled before going quiet and simply standing there.

"Regina gets cold in the night and she pilled on the blankets," Robin stated, finally deciding to speak up and help her out.

"I see. Well, I suppose I will leave you to enjoy your breakfast then. We have a surprise for you after Regina, so don't take too long," she winked before leaving the room with Meg following behind her.

As soon as the door closed Regina let out a breath and relaxed back against Robin who was holding her to him, "that was a close call."

"Too close," he agreed, his chin resting on her shoulder as they sat there and contemplated what just happened. It had shaken her a little, just the thought of being caught out had her stomach in knots, she didn't want to return to America. England was her home now and she just hoped that it could continue to be.

They sat there for a couple more moments before she finally realised what was happening, she was practically lounging in his arms as though they were a genuine couple, he still hadn't let go of her and was caressing her stomach over her nightdress in a strangely intimate way. It felt somewhat nice. Comforting almost. She couldn't allow it to continue, clearing her throat she extracted herself from his arms and reached for the cup of coffee sat on the tray. "Would you like anything?"

"Yeah, um, yes please."

She stood up, feeling the need to get out of bed and distance herself a little, "so we have croissants or cereal?"

"Both?"

Regina rolled her eyes and placed the tray on the bed before perching on the edge, "I guess I should probably learn how to cook right? Don't want you leaving me for another woman," she quipped, trying to joke with him and earning a dry laugh in response.

"I haven't left you yet," he shrugged. She watched him for a moment before shaking her head and standing up again. "What are you doing?"

"I thought I might go outside and catch a little fresh air."

"We haven't even had breakfast yet."

"I know, I just, I could do with some air you know, clear my head a little." She quickly grabbed the freshly washed dungarees from the armchair in the room and pulled them on before casting him a small smile and taking one of the croissants. "I'll be back soon."

"Okay."

She nodded at him once more before escaping the room and closing the door behind her, feeling as though she could finally breathe again.

* * *

"Hey," Robin quipped as he sat down beside her on the fallen log she had been perched on for a good half hour. "I wondered where you'd gone."

"Well, you found me, congratulations."

"Do I get a prize?"

"Don't push your luck," she chuckled, looking over her shoulder at him, "its peaceful out here and it allows me to think."

"Can I ask what's on your mind?"

"Everything, what were doing, worrying that it isn't going to work and that you'll get into trouble because of me."

"You said it yourself, no one is going to find out, don't worry about me," he reassured, nudging her playfully. "My mother and grandmother are looking for you."

"Do you know what they are planning?"

"I think they wanted to take you shopping."

She groaned and shook her head, "I hate shopping."

"Really? You don't seem to have a problem with going shopping back home."

"I can't quite imagine they have the same stores here as they do in London."

"You don't know that, besides, afterwards they want to take you sightseeing."

"I hate sightseeing."

"Very funny," he rolled his eyes playfully and she shook her head as she laughed. "So, what don't you hate?"

"My job."

"Oh god Regina, get a life," Robin stood up and offered her his hand, "are you going to come back inside with me, or will you be staying out here for the rest of the day hiding from my family."

"I'm not hiding from your family; I'm merely sitting here so that I can think about things."

"Okay, but I know it would really mean a lot to my mother if you went into town with them."

"Are you not coming?"

"I think they wanted it to be a girl's trip, plus, shopping isn't really my thing."

"Fine."

"Anyone would think that you were upset because you couldn't spend time with me."

"Don't flatter yourself," she quipped with an eye roll before standing from the log and straightening her clothes, "I really need to go and get changed before I go anywhere." Without waiting to hear his witty come back, she scampered off back towards the house to find some clothes that didn't drown her.

* * *

As soon as she was ready, she was whisked off by his mother and grandmother and bundled into the car as they drove down the country lanes, before moving onto ones that were more vehicle-friendly. On the journey she enjoyed the views from the window, the fields seemed to be endless seas of green which spanned for miles either side of the road, interspaced with forests and clusters of houses. It was peaceful and, in many ways, reminded her of her childhood.

"You live in such a beautiful place," she stated during a lull in conversation. Caroline met her eyes in the review mirror and smiled at her.

"We like it, sometimes I wonder why on earth Robin traded this for the hustle and bustle of London. The times we've been to visit him it's so busy, it seems as though everyone is rushing, I guess here it's just slower, life is slower. In a good way."

"I can imagine and yes, London is crazy most of the time, it is hard to find a peaceful moment."

"Well darling, maybe you shouldn't work so much."

"Ah, I love my job."

"Yes, and it's an important one, but Robin tells us that you aren't ever out of the office or laboratory, wherever you are."

"I suppose that's true," she confessed. What else would she really be doing with her time, she didn't have anything else, her job was her life and that was just about it. That was how she managed to work her way up the field so quickly, she'd had no distractions and was 100% percent committed. Even if that meant she was entirely alone in life. She had no one.

"Well, hopefully, we will be able to take your mind off your work while you're staying with us and give you a well-earned break."

"Thank you, I'm enjoying it so far."

"You don't have to lie dear; we know that you didn't really enjoy the cattle-herding yesterday."

"No, I suppose not, but it was nice to see how Robin grew up and what kinds of things he does when he's here," she confessed, it wasn't a complete lie, as much as she hated what they had done the day before, it was interesting to see Robin in his natural habitat so to speak. "What is it we're going to be doing in town?"

"Oh, I thought we could do a spot of retail therapy, pop into the shops. Mum needs a new dress for Dad's birthday party tonight."

"Tonight? I thought his birthday was a couple of days away," Regina stated in alarm, she thought she had longer to prepare, she had been almost certain that his birthday was in two days.

"The party is tonight, but yes, his birthday isn't until then."

"I see," she felt the nerves bubble in her stomach, they were never far away on this trip, she seemed to be nervous about everything. She did have a dress in mind, one of her favourites, but she just hoped that it would be appropriate, not that she could see why it wouldn't be. "What is it you're looking for?"

"Something floral I think dear."

"That sounds lovely June," Regina nodded, smiling at the older woman.

* * *

A couple of hours later and both June and Caroline had bought new dresses, Regina, on the other hand, had insisted that she already had one, even if Robin's mother had been quite insistent that one of the dresses she'd tried on was perfect for her. It had taken much longer than she had been expecting and she was ready to get back to the farm, "are we heading home now?"

"Ah, no, there's just one more stop before we go back," Caroline quipped, leading them out of the shop and down the street. She had a sly smile on her face and it was slightly un-nerving. They walked for about five minutes before stopping outside a shop, Regina looked up at the building and shook her head.

"What's this?"

"I thought maybe we could go in there and just have a little look."

"I don't know about that, I…"

"I think it's a wonderful idea, come along dear," without any further ado, both Caroline and June grabbed each of Regina's arms before pulling her into the store.

"Hello, welcome to Boutique Bridal. Which one of you is the lucky woman?" the shop assistant asked, coming over to them.

"Regina is my daughter-in-law to be and we thought she could try on a few dresses," Caroline stated with a smile.

"Of course, do you know what kind of dress you're looking for?"

Regina looked at the woman in shock, trying to process what was actually going on, had they really just hijacked her and taken her into a bridal shop? How was she supposed to think about this, she and Robin were meant to be having a quick wedding in a registry office and that meant that she wouldn't be needing any elaborate ball gowns, something made her think that his family weren't going to let that happened and it set off her anxiety. "I hadn't really given it much thought, to be honest."

"Well, that doesn't matter, feel free to look around and if you spot anything, we can help you try it on and see what you think."

"Thanks, I think," she whispered, glancing to Caroline, "I appreciate your enthusiasm but…"

"Have you even looked at dresses yet?" the older woman asked, beginning to look through the racks of white dresses as June began at the other end of the shop. "It's so exciting."

"Robin and I were really wanting to keep the wedding low key, we didn't want anything too elaborate."

"Darling, you need a dress, it doesn't mean it has to be too fancy, we just want you to feel special on your big day. You're only going to get married once and you want everything to be perfect, don't you?"

Regina stared at her feeling completely baffled, she knew that Caroline had a point, any normal bride would be getting excited about choosing her wedding dress. She needed to play the part properly, even if she was feeling totally overwhelmed by the sudden reality of the situation.

"Come on sweetie, just have a look at them, you might find something you like."

She sighed and rolled her eyes before moving over to the clothes rack and began to thumb through them half-heartedly. She'd glanced at around twenty dresses before stopping in her tracks and staring at one dress in particular. It had a floaty skirt with lace along the bottom edge, the top provided a sweetheart neckline with three quarter length lace sleeves. It was simple but breath-taking. "Oh my," she whispered.

"Did you find anything?" Caroline asked, coming up behind her, "that is gorgeous."

"I know."

"Well then, let's get you into it!" she clapped happily, beckoning over the sales assistant. As much as Regina liked the dress, she didn't know if she really wanted to try it on, not when she knew that the whole wedding would be a sham. Why waste money on a beautiful dress?

"Come on Regina, I know you'll look stunning."

"Okay," she nodded, following the sales assistant who led her to the changing rooms.

"If you need any help, just give me a shout."

Regina smiled at her awkwardly before closing the door and staring at the dress which was hanging up. She took a deep breath before reaching out and touching it, part of her wanted to walk away, but the other larger part was screaming at her to just try it, just put the god damned dress on. She shook her head and took off her pants before removing her jumper and sliding the dress from the hanger, the fabric felt so nice in her hands and a strange excitement whipped through her at the thought of having it on her body.

She stepped into the dress and pulled it up over her body, her hands going to the back before she even looked in the mirror. Once it was fully on she stared down at the ground, not wanting to look up for fear of what she might be met with when she did. After a moment of composing herself, she glanced up at her reflection and had to bite her cheek to stop herself from crying. It was perfect, the most beautiful thing she'd ever worn and subjecting the dress to her sham of a marriage to Robin wouldn't be right.

Before she could stop herself, there were tears rolling down her cheeks and she slumped to sit on the chair in the dressing room. She hated feeling this way, but couldn't stop it. She was a liar and they were both lying to his family, her conscience was heavy with that knowledge. These people were wonderful and they were deceiving them, she was making Robin trick his family and lie to them and she knew what an awful person that made her.

"Regina dear, have you put it on, can we see?"

"Just a minute," she called, grabbing her purse and rooting around for a tissue to wipe her eyes. Once she had cleaned herself up enough, she took a deep breath before stepping out of the changing room and hearing the gasps of Robin mother and grandmother.

"Oh my goodness. You look stunning! How do you feel?"

"I love it," she nodded in agreement.

"Well then, I think its settled. I want to buy this for you."

"What? No, Caroline, that isn't necessary…"

"Robin told us that your family isn't there for you and I want to be there for you. I want to buy you this dress, think of it as a welcome to the family present."

"I don't think…"

"No arguments. Do you like the dress?"

"Yes, it's perfect but…"

"What did I say, dear, don't argue with me. I want to buy it."

"I have my own money, I can pay, you don't need to…"

"Are you arguing with me again dear?"

"No." She shook her head, glancing at June and seeing that she was in tears as she looked at her, "are you alright?" Regina asked, moving over to her and taking her hands gently.

"Yes, I'm fine darling, you just look so beautiful and Robin is going to be positively blown away when he sees you. I'm just so happy for you both."

Regina felt her own eyes begin to sting once more and she really needed to get back into the changing room before anyone else saw. "Thank you, both of you."

"Regina, you don't need to be afraid to show us how you feel. We're family now," Caroline stated, moving over to them.

She felt overcrowded but her emotions were up in the air and she wasn't sure how to feel about any of it. "I'm just so happy I found the perfect dress," she cast them a watery smile and shrugged her shoulders.

"Oh darling," Caroline wrapped her arms around her, holding her close as Regina hugged her back, she basked in her future mother-in-law's kindness and hoped to god that they didn't get hurt too much when everything came to an end.


	6. Party Preparation

**Hi! Sorry about the delay with this chapter, I know it's short but its only really a filler before the next chapter. We also see some development of feelings, hope you enjoy!**

* * *

Once they had finished shopping and Regina had reluctantly allowed Caroline to buy the dress, she tried on they returned to the house to get ready for Roland's birthday party. She was feeling somewhat nervous because she knew that she would be introduced to not only the rest of Robin's family but friends as well. She didn't really do all that well in social settings and it was worrying her, for some reason she wanted to make a good impression, almost as if it actually mattered what they thought of her.

It should do, she and Robin weren't a real thing, it shouldn't matter to her. But it did. It really did, she wanted people to like her, or to at the very least tolerate her presence, she didn't know if it were for Robin's sake or for her own. She felt the need to impress everyone, even if there was a high chance that she would probably never see the people again.

As soon as they were through the door, she spotted Robin and the only way to describe what he was doing was lurking. He wasn't directly in the hallway as such, more spying around the corning of the sitting room, watching them from a distance. Regina rolled her eyes as she pulled off her heeled boots before thanking the two women for taking her shopping and heading over in his direction. "What are you creeping around for?"

"Just checking that you made it back in one piece."

"Of course I did, why wouldn't I?"

"Thought maybe after a couple of hours with my mother and grandmother you might have made a break for it. Caught the next train out of here back to London."

"Oh, and I bet you would have been overjoyed should I have done that."

"I dunno, you have a certain charm about you, plus you've given me a good cover girlfriend story to mask the fact that I am in fact a single loner living in a shitty minuscule London apartment, eating a diet of pot noodle and pasta. I swear my quality of life is worse than that of a student."

"Pot noodle?" she scoffed, turning her nose up as the two of them walked into the kitchen and Robin flicked the kettle on. "You do know that's probably a ticket to a faster death. I heard that there is something added to them which forces the stomach to keep the food down otherwise you would just throw up."

"What? That's not true."

"It's science, Robin. I read it in the paper the other week, there are so many additives. What happened to healthy food? You're a scientist you should know better than to eat that shit."

"Geez Regina, it was one comment. Maybe when we get back home you can teach me how to make proper noodles then."

"Happily, trust me, if you want to prolong your life span cut the pot noodle," she shuddered. She had never had one in her life and had no clue what it tasted like, but she didn't really want to find out. She was a doctor of science; she knew that they weren't particularly good for the body. "I'll teach you how to make a Chinese stir-fry in a quick and healthy way."

"Well, it seems I have my own version of Nigella Lawson on my hands. Though I'm pretty sure that this morning you told me that you couldn't cook."

"Oh I can cook, I just can't bake all that well, I haven't really got the time to try so I don't."

"Okay then, how was your morning out? I know the pair of them can be a bit full on when they are together, I hope they didn't scare you away too much."

"No, they were wonderful. I just wasn't expecting some of the things that happened that's all."

"Well, I'm glad that the time you spent with them wasn't awful."

"Robin, I feel I should apologise to you for this morning. Some of the things I said were uncalled for, I was just unsure, maybe nervous even, about being along with your family. I don't want them to hate me and I guess a part of me was thinking that without you there to push me along, maybe they wouldn't understand who I am… I just…"

"I don't need you to apologise, Regina, I get it, you were nervous to meet the in-laws, it's understandable."

"Well thank you, for being understanding."

"If anything, I should be the one apologising to you. I haven't been fair to you in the past couple of days. I guess I was still angry at you for not giving me much of a choice than to go along with all this. I know now that it is the best thing to do and I really want to help you out."

"You want to help me out or you want the promotion I offered you?"

"Both, but Regina, I'm really not heartless. As much as I might complain about you, you're good at your job and as much as you may think it might, it wouldn't make me happy to see you leave."

"Well, I think that's the nicest thing you have ever said to me. Also, I think you might be the only one in the department who has that mindset if people knew that I was in danger of being deported I think they would most likely be booking my flights home for me."

"Regina…"

"They hate me, Robin, I already know they do," she whispered looking to the ground. It was hard sometimes to think about, she knew that it was probably her own fault that they did hate her. She was standoffish and liked to get her own way, she was a hard but fair boss and some people didn't like that. They wanted her to be soft and easy going, but that just wasn't her, it wasn't who she was. She wasn't a people person; she never had been and she never would be.

"Hey, no, they don't hate you…"

"Don't even bother denying it, as I said, I already know. Anyway, we're here to take a break away from work so…"

"I never would have thought that I would hear you say those words! Breakaway from work? Are you alright? Would you like a sit-down? Maybe you're ill."

"Haha," she rolled her eyes, watching him chuckle at her, "don't you think you've dragged the workaholic gag out far enough now? It's getting boring."

"Oh, well I'd hate to bore you," he grinned, "come on, we can go find the others and see what they're up to before getting ready for the party tonight."

"Hmm, alright." She followed him out of the kitchen, heading back the way they came before heading towards the sitting room. That was when she caught a glance of a room she hadn't been in yet and stopped in her tracks, she pushed the door further open and gasped in surprise.

"Hey, why'd you… oh, that's the reception room."

"You have a grand piano?" It was sitting there in the bay window with the natural light shining through almost acting as a spotlight.

"Yeah, my mother forced us to have lessons when we were younger, she said it kept us out of trouble," he chuckled.

She stepped into the room, walking closer to the beautiful instrument, allowing her fingers to run over the black-painted wood. "It's beautiful," Regina whispered, perching on the stool and gently touching the keys.

"It probably doesn't really get played, I was the only one to really keep up with my playing, everyone else gave up and mum was left with that in there, she said it was a good feature in this room. How about you, do you know how to spin a tune."

She hummed and nodded her head, she really wanted to play it but felt shy all of sudden. She didn't like to play in front of an audience, no one really knew about her love for playing, she kept it to herself. Ever since she had been made to learn how to play whilst at boarding school, she had held a passion for it. It was one of the things she filled the little spare time she had with. It relaxed her, she found it soothing, when she was younger she would sneak away to the music room and play for hours just to escape in the music.

"Really?"

"Yes, is that so hard to believe?"

"So, you can properly play? Not just chopsticks, that doesn't count."

"I can play properly, including chopsticks and probably most classical pieces. I've been playing the piano since I was four years old."

"Wow. Go on then."

"No."

"How am I supposed to believe you if you don't play something for me."

"I don't play in front of people," she shook her head, "it's just not something I do."

"I don't think you can play."

"I can!"

"Prove it."

"Robin."

"Prove it to me."

She took a deep breath and cast him a menacing glare, she didn't like playing in front of people but she also really wanted to prove him wrong and show him that she could play. "fine, but you can't watch, turn around."

"Are you serious?"

"Yes! Turn around, I can't do it with you watching me I get too nervous and I'll mess up."

"Okay, but I know what that piano sounds like so you can't play something off your phone and pass it off as you playing, I'd know."

"As if, you can't even compare the sound of a real piano to the version played from a phone," Regina scoffed. She couldn't believe that he thought she was dumb enough to do something like that. "Right, turn around."

"Do you need some sheet music?"

"I think I'm good thanks," she shrugged, she knew quite a lot of pieces off the top of her head and she didn't need to look at music to remember them. "You're still not turned around."

"I'm turning."

"Good," she watched him for a moment, making sure that he was doing as he was told. He had his back to her and she took a deep breath before staring at the keys, the piano was a little bigger than the one she had in her apartment back in London but around the same size as the one at her parent's house and the one she had learnt to play on at boarding school.

She wasn't sure what she should play, she wanted to impress him, but also wanted to make sure that she hit every note and remembered the entire song. There had been some pieces she'd been learning recently but she wasn't going to do one of those, instead, she opted for something she had learnt years ago and had since mastered. Clair De Lune by Debussy. It was a classic and so peacefully relaxing.

She took one last glance at Robin and before he could make a comment about her taking her time she began to play. A soon as her fingers touched the keys, they took on a life of their own, gliding across the white tiles to hit the notes they needed to as if on instinct, knowing which ones to press. She heard Robin's sharp intake of breath and she guessed he was shocked that she had actually been telling the truth.

A smile played on her lips as she got into it, her eyes closing as she felt the notes, remembering the path her fingers needed to follow off by heart. She felt the music running through her veins and became lost in it. She was so lost in the sound that when she finally finished it was to a round of clapping that wasn't just from Robin. She opened her eyes and found that the rest of his family must have heard her playing and come in to listen also, not to mention they were all now staring at her.

"Oh."

"Wow," Robin shook his head, "when you said you could play, I was expecting something…"

"Simple? You should know by now that I never do things by halves Robin," she grinned, standing up from the seat and clearing her throat. She felt somewhat awkward with everyone's eyes on her.

"You're amazing."

"Thank you," she whispered, offering him a small smile.

"Can you play something modern though, something good?" Emma asked with a raised eyebrow. Leaning on the piano as she challenged her.

"Debussy is good!" Regina protested, "though Tchaikovsky is probably my favourite composer."

"Hmm, still old."

"You want something new?" Regina grinned with a shake of the head as she sat down on the stool once again, she was going to give the blonde what she wanted. She was slightly nervous but also ready for the challenge, "maybe you'll recognise this one." She allowed her fingers to run across the keys once again, speeding over the white and black tiles, pressing all the right notes to play the tune she wished to play.

"Shit, she's good!" Emma laughed, "also she's Game of Thrones? Seems she's a keeper Robin."

After the first part Regina dropped her hands from the piano, she didn't want to be the centre of attention any more. "The game of thrones soundtrack is really something, the composition of the music is breath-taking."

"I just had a wonderful idea!"

Regina looked up at Robin's mother who was practically hopping up and down on the spot, "the two of you should play together tonight at the party, as a surprise for your grandfather."

Regina's eyes widened as she glanced at Robin and started to shake her head, "I don't think so… I wouldn't…"

"Oh come on dear! It would be wonderful and he would simply love it. Robin what do you think?" the older woman moved closer, grasping his hands, "please. Do it for your grandfather?"

Regina was watching him nervously; she didn't know if she was up to performing in front of everyone who was going to be at the party. She hoped that Robin wouldn't just say yes but his mother could be very persuasive as she had already found out earlier that day. "I think it's up to Regina actually, I'm not going to force her. If she says yes, I'll do it."

"I'm not sure if I can," she whispered so only Robin could hear, "I think I'd probably freeze up."

"You'll be great, I know it. We can do this; it'll prove to them that we're a real couple and that we can be in sync."

She bit down on her bottom lip mulling over her options, she didn't see any other alternative without upsetting his mother and that was the last thing she wanted to do. "I suppose we could play a short piece if you think your grandfather would enjoy it."

"I'm sure he will love it! We'll get out of your hair and leave the two of you to practice."

Emma grinned at them before laughing and leaving with her mother, "good luck with that."

Once they were left alone in the room Regina turned to look at Robin and shook her head, "what the hell are we going to do?" she breathed. She had never played in front of anyone before never mind with someone, "I don't know any duet pieces. Do you?"

"Umm, no, not that I can recall, none that you would be able to learn in…" he glanced at his watch to check the time before looking back at her with a somewhat worried expression, "four hours, and that is leaving no time to get ready."

"We're screwed, Robin."

"I'm sure we'll manage something. How about Moonlight Sonata? We could split it into sections. Or we could do a Tchaikovsky mash up, merge them and blend them into one another, Swan Lake, The Nutcracker and what about some Rachmaninoff's Theme of Paganini to finish it off."

"Oh, I love that one!" Regina gushed with a grin.

"You know it then?"

"Of course! It's the theme for one of my favourite films."

"Somewhere In Time?"

"Yes! I love it, it's so great," she gushed, feeling her cheeks flush at her admission. She'd just admitted to her favourite film being a soppy romance.

"It is a good film, though I can't say I can imagine you liking it. I'd have expected you to think it was soppy and cliché."

"No, quite the opposite, the ending is shocking, if you read the book though you find out that the whole film is pretty much a hoax."

"Anyway, I think we should put The Nutcracker first, Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy's obviously, then Swan Lake followed by Paganini."

"Okay, whatever you think boss. Shall we get started? I think we have a lot of practising to do."

"Yes, we certainly do," she nodded, smiling at him as she perched back on the piano bench, scooting over to provide space from him. Maybe this was what they needed, a little bonding time to bring them closer together. They were either going to master the task or drive each other crazy trying.

* * *

In the end, it had turned out to be a little bit of both, it had been frustrating trying to get the melodies right and make sure that they worked well together. However, after two and a half hours of flat out piano playing and nearly twenty-five run-throughs, they were both bored of hearing it, even if it did sound almost perfect.

Robin hadn't taken very long to get dressed and he had been out of the room for a good while, waiting in the sitting room with the rest of the family before they set off to the party venue. Regina had no idea how many people were going but she guessed that it must be a fair few considering they weren't just holding the party at their house.

It had taken her quite a long time to get ready, but then again she was a perfectionist when it came to how she looked, just like her mother had been, she knew that was definitely where that trait came from. Looking in the mirror she checked over her makeup, she had opted for smoky black eyes with bright red lips, her hair was styled into sleek waves that just about brushed her shoulders.

As for her outfit, that consisted of a deep red dress that hugged her curves in all the right places, stopping just above the knee, paired with black heels that made her look much taller than she actually was which was a bonus because without them she felt rather short.

After another check in the full-length mirror, she took a deep breath and headed downstairs to join the rest of Robin's family, she hoped that they weren't all waiting for her, she was nervous enough as it was without the added pressure of being last to finish getting ready.

She'd just reached the bottom step when she almost collided with Robin, "hey, sorry, were you all waiting?"

"No, I was just coming to check if you were… wow," he gasped, stopping in his tracks and staring at her, "you look gorgeous."

"You don't have to say that I…"

"Fuck, Regina don't put yourself down, you look amazing."

Regina realised that he was somewhat transfixed by her, she didn't really know what to make of it, sure they could probably class each other as friends now, but the way he was looking at her made shivers run down her spine. Having his eyes on her was an intense feeling and she could feel something bubbling up in her stomach, something she hadn't felt before whilst in his presence, it was strange but she kinda liked it. "Thank you, you're not too bad yourself you know."

"Really?"

"Hmm. I think that might be the first time we have ever paid one another a compliment," she chuckled, shaking her head. It was weird how comfortable she was beginning to feel around him, sure she had been before, he was her assistant and they had been close, but it wasn't the same, this was something different.

"Well, maybe that's a step in the right direction," he grinned, offering her his hand, "shall we?"

Regina eyed him for a moment, considering whether she should take it or not. They hadn't held hands before, but she knew that it would be good for appearances and there was part of her that wanted to, she wanted to find out what it would feel like to have his hand wrapped around hers. Their fingers had brushed against each other whilst they played but it wasn't the same, that had been an accident, this was intentional. Without thinking much more, she slipped her hand into his before grinning up at him.

It felt nice, really nice.

"Come on," Robin pulled her gently towards the sitting room.

"Oh, don't you too make a beautiful couple! That dress is simply gorgeous on you my dear," Caroline gushed as she stood from the couch, there was a huge beaming smile on her face and Regina could see that the fact Robin had someone made his mother happy. "Your father has gone to pick up your grandparents so we can get on the way now. Come along my beauties, we have a party to get to." With that, she left towards the front door, her flora dress swishing as she went.

"You ready for this?" Robin whispered, his fingers caressing gently over her hand.

She took a deep breath and nodded, "hmm, ready as I'll ever be."


	7. Happy Birthday

The drive to the venue wasn't a long one, the party was being held in the quaint village hall but Regina could already tell that there were a lot of people there. It almost seemed as though the entire village had turned out and it wasn't something she had been expecting, she thought that it'd only be a few friends and the family, but clearly, she was wrong. Now she was certainly feeling the pressure and it was totally overwhelming.

Regina glanced at Robin, only to find that he was already looking at her, "that's a lot of people."

"You want to back out? Tell me now and I'll tell my mum that we're not doing it."

"I don't want to let her down."

"Regina, I don't want you to feel uncomfortable and if that is going to happen then we'll call it off, people would understand."

Regina sighed and shook her head; she knew that wasn't really an option even if she wanted nothing more than to jump at the chance. She hated being the centre of attention at the best of times and with her being Robin's new mysterious fiancé, this was just going to bring more attention her way. By the end of the night, she had a horrible feeling that she would be the talk of the party and that was the last thing she wanted. "We'll be fine right? We know what we're doing."

"Do you know how weird it is for me to see you like this?"

"What are you talking about?" she asked, furrowing her eyebrows as she looked at him, trying to work out what he was meaning.

He simply grinned and shook his head, "let's just say I'm used to seeing you all put together, so this flustered thing is new to me. Though I suppose I've been seeing this side of you for the last couple of weeks."

"Shut up," she huffed, rolling her eyes as she opened the car door and climbed out. She should have known that he would have made some comment like that one. She knew that he was right though, she was usually composed and she had been all over the place lately.

Robin soon followed her and wrapped an arm around her shoulders, pulling her closer to him, "got to act the part," he winked.

Regina just grumbled under her breath a little as they made their way inside. The hall was much bigger on the inside than it had appeared from its exterior, a little like the Doctor's Tardis, if the Doctor's Tardis were filled with what she guessed was over one hundred people, not to mention all the decorations that covered the walls and she was pretty sure there was a net filled with balloons on the ceiling. She thought it was a 90th birthday party, not a high school prom. "Let me guess, your mother's idea?" she asked, looking up at the balloon.

"Actually no, that one would be Emma. The last time mum was put on balloon duty she ordered them with helium instead of air and when the net was dropped the balloons just swayed about the ceiling."

Regina sniggered, shaking her head as she turned to look at him, "are you being serious? She really did that?"

"Yes, there are photo's if you want to see them."

"I think I'll have to take a look at those later."

He smirked at her before leading them through the packed room, which somehow was still admitting guests, she wasn't sure the hall could fit any more.

"Who are all these people?"

"My granddad is a popular guy," Robin chuckled, "he has his church friends, army pals, mates from the pub, ex-work colleagues and the entire village."

"He really invited the entire village?"

"Probably, surprisingly he loves a party."

"Oh god," she breathed. Biting down on her bottom lip as she spotted where the piano was situated. There was a small stage at the far end of the hall and sitting there proudly was the piano. They would have to play up there in front of all the random strangers in the packed-out hall and she was terrified.

"What?"

"Nothing, it's nothing," she swallowed the lump in her throat. "Look, your grandfather is here," she smiled, gesturing to the entrance where Robin's father and grandparents had just arrived, "you should go and greet them."

"Come with me."

"I think I might go and get a drink actually; you go and I'll catch up with you in a few minutes."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes, go," she nodded, pushing him gently, not sure what the expression on his face was, she hadn't seen it before. He narrowed his eyes at her for a moment before doing as she had instructed and walking over to his family. Once she was alone, she made her way towards the refreshments table and upon spotting a bottle of vodka poured herself a double before hurrying behind the curtain that she guessed led to the stage. Spotting a door there she opened it and found herself outside the back of the building.

She took a deep breath as she moved further out and leant against the wooden balustrade so that she could look out across the valley at the setting sun. It really was beautiful and very nice to get out of the stuffy hall for a few moments. She'd not even been inside for more than ten minutes and had already been feeling claustrophobic.

"Bit overwhelming in there isn't it," an unfamiliar voice chuckled.

Regina turned her head to see a brunette in a purple dress coming towards her with a drink of her own. The woman couldn't have been much younger than she was, with her lips painted in a similar red shade. Regina had no idea who she actually was but it was nice to have someone who seemed to be on the same wavelength. "Just a little. I'm glad for the fresh air. You don't get air like this in London."

"You're from London then?"

"Not originally no," she shook her head, looking back ahead of her as the woman reached her and leant against the wooden fence beside her.

"American?"

"Hmm. I guess you could say I'm not one for busy parties with strangers."

"Try busy parties with a room full of people you know," the woman chuckled, "that's got to be worse, people coming up to you twenty-four-seven asking questions about your life.  _'What is it you're doing now? Are you seeing anyone? How's your life?'_ "

"I can imagine that would be tedious," Regina grinned, taking a sip of the vodka in her glass and wincing at the strength of it. She had a feeling she was going to like this woman with no name. "Though luckily I don't go home too often, so I don't have the pleasure of experiencing that."

"Best way to be if you ask me. So, who did you come to the party with?"

She thought about her answer for a moment before giving the one everyone thought was the truth, "I'm with my fiancé, it's his grandfather's birthday party and quite honestly, I think the old man hates me."

"Roland? He hates anyone who dates his grandsons or granddaughters, trust me on that one. I can't believe Graham finally decided to settle down."

"Oh, I'm not engaged to Graham," she winced with a shake of the head, Robin would be fuming if he had heard that comment. It was bad enough when he thought she had been flirting with his brother.

"No way! There's no way David decided to re-marry! I always thought he and his goody-two-shoes ex-wife would end up back together."

"It's not David either, thank goodness. I'm engaged to Robin."

There was a sudden smash as the woman beside her dropped the glass that had been in her hand, Regina turned to look at her once again, furrowing her eyebrows as she took in the shock on her face. "Robin?"

"Yes, Robin."

"Oh, well, I suppose that was the least obvious of the whole bunch."

"Whys that? We both live in London."

"I dunno, but now you mention it that does make sense. Well if you excuse me, I should be getting back inside."

"Wait, I thought we were having a nice conversation."

"We were and now I have to go back inside, see you later."

With that she scurried off leaving Regina stood there in complete confusion as she brought her glass to her lips again, taking another gulp of the alcohol. That was weird, it was almost as if she'd just completely freaked out at the mention of Robin, maybe she just knew him from school or something, Regina couldn't have been sure. She would have done a little more digging if she hadn't been so quick to run away.

She looked back out at the view in front of her, they were pretty much in the middle of nowhere, all she could see were fields and forests. There were rolling hills as far as the eye could see and around the other side of the hall she knew they led out towards the moorland. It was idyllic but also a little daunting, she wasn't used to places being so quiet. Even with the noise from the party inside, outside, there was virtual silence.

"Trying to escape?"

A grin edged onto her lips as she drank some more vodka, "seems I'm penned in," she quipped, gesturing to the wooden balcony.

"Yeah, I wouldn't advise climbing over that unless you want to be chased by more cows, not that you were chased the first time."

"Okay, very funny," she chuckled, turning to lean against the railing so that she could see him, "missing me Locksley?"

"You wish Mills, I couldn't see you inside and guessed you'd come out here. Need the fresh air?"

"Yes, I suppose I better make the most of it before we return to the dirty air of London, it's nice to not have to breathe in pollution isn't it?" Regina sniggered, watching him as he stepped towards her, taking the glass from her fingers and sniffing it, "I was drinking that."

"Drinking straight vodka? You really must be bricking it about this performance," he laughed, taking his own swig from the glass.

"Bricking it?"

"It means scared or nervous."

"I see and no, I'm sure I'll be just fine. Shall we go back inside?"

"Yeah, we better. My mother is looking for you. I think she's a little obsessed with you."

"Your mother is amazing." It wasn't often she said that about people, but Caroline had earned that title, she really was the nicest woman Regina had ever met. "Now, can we go and get this performance over and done with please?"

"Sure," he offered her his hand and she eyed him up suspiciously, "come on, for image's sake."

"Fine," she scoffed, rolling her eyes as she locked her fingers with his and they walked back inside. Instead of moving through the curtain into the main area of the hall Robin tugged her towards the steps that led to the stage. "Really?"

"You said you wanted to get it over with."

"Yes I know I said that but I…"

"You're scared."

"No, not scared, I'm just… worried you're going to mess up and make us both look incompetent."

"Don't worry I'm more than competent when it comes to my finger work," he winked before pulling her up the stairs with him and straight onto the stage. She found herself hiding behind him a little, hoping that he would just disguise her completely, but Robin just moved away from her and shoved her gently so that she was standing beside him. He reached for the microphone which was situated in the centre of the stage and Regina cringed at the noise of feedback rippling through the hall.

The music quietened down and everyone turned to look at them, the entirety of the hall had their eyes trained at the stage and Regina thought she might throw up right there and then. There must have been at least one hundred and fifty people there.

"Hi everyone, I just wanted to wish my grandad the happiest of birthdays, I'm glad you could all be here with us to celebrate. My fiancé and I have a small surprise, grandad, this is for you."

She heard various reactions when Robin had informed everyone that she was his fiancé, most of them probably had no idea who she was until he told them and now, they had something to say about it. She spotted the brunette she had been talking to earlier hovering around the drinks table and didn't know what to make of it, she wanted to ask Robin who she was but now wasn't the time for that, she would have to do it later.

"Come on," he tugged gently on her hand, leading her over to the piano. She went along rather reluctantly and perched on her side of the stool as he took up his own, "are you ready?"

"Ready as I'll ever be," she whispered, listening as Robin counted them in. There was no going back, she was doing this, she needed to focus on the music and not on the people who were watching them. As soon as Robin had finished counting them in she was off, her fingers gliding over the keys as she played the opening tune ready for Robin to join in, it all rested on his making his cue, if he didn't, the whole piece would be thrown off.

She played seamlessly but was happy when Robin finally decided to join her, it seemed as though she had been going for ages. However as soon as Robin started playing it began to get interesting, she chuckled as her fingers moved over his when she had to go over him to press the keys she needed. He grinned at her as they carried on going, seeming to pick up speed as they went, filling the hall with the noise of the piano.

There was something about playing with Robin which made her nerves disappear, he had a funny way of doing that to her. Yet at the same time, those butterflies swam in her stomach, but for completely different reasons. The piece was playing out wonderfully, her fingers were aching but she knew that they were almost done and she would be happy to get down from the stage. Once they reached the end, she wriggled her fingers and stretched them out as she looked up at Robin.

"You are amazing," he chuckled, wrapping his arms around her as the party guests clapped. She was rather caught off guard by his forwardness but leant into the hug nevertheless, it was nice to feel his arms around her.

"You're not too bad yourself." She smiled at him as she pulled back from the embrace, her eyes meeting his, "we should probably get down from here now that's over and done with."

"Definitely, I could do with a drink."

"Me too," Regina laughed, standing from the stool as he took her hand once again and helped her back down the stairs. He didn't let go of her as they approached his grandfather who seemed to be beaming with pride.

"You were wonderful my boy! Absolutely marvellous," the old man wrapped his arms around his grandson, Regina retracted her hand and clasped it with her other as she watched the exchange. She was glad that what they had done had pleased his grandfather and hoped that maybe it would get her one step closer to winning his approval.

"We're happy you liked it, though Regina did most of the work putting the set together," Robin quipped as he glanced her way, she offered him a small smile in return.

"Well thank you, Regina, that was very thoughtful of you," he grinned, making the smile on her face grow in size as pride bloomed inside her. That had been the first genuine smile he had ever shown her and she was going to revel in the moment.

"You are very welcome."

"You young ones enjoy the party now, I see old Jim over there and must say hello."

"I'll see you later grandad," Robin nodded as they watched the old man walk away from them towards another man who was stood at the other side of the hall. Once they were alone Robin looked back at her with a smirk playing on his face, "I think he might be coming around to you."

"What does that mean?" she scoffed playfully as they walked towards the drinks station, she knew he was just teasing her. She had known full well that his grandfather hadn't been all the struck on her at first.

"Trust me it takes him a while to get to like people."

"Hmm, the woman I was talking to outside told me as much."

"Who was it you were speaking to?" he asked, pouring a couple of drinks for them and handing her one.

"I didn't catch her name actually, she seemed to rush off when I told her that I was engaged to you. I don't know what her problem was," Regina rolled her eyed. She also looked around to see if she could spot the woman in order to point her out to Robin but she didn't seem to be anywhere.

"That's strange, maybe she was jealous that I was going to be off the market," Robin grinned, wiggling his eyebrows at her in a way that made her give him a quick shove.

"Hmm, bet you're upset about that one. What would you be doing at this party right now if I wasn't here with you?"

"I wouldn't have been allowed to come to this party because my boss is a slave driver and if it hadn't been for her citizenship and me blackmailing her, she probably wouldn't have let me out of the lab."

"Shut up," she scoffed, "I would have. Do you really think me to be that heartless as to let you miss your own grandfather's birthday?"

"I'm joking Regina."

"No you weren't though were you, that's what you were actually thinking."

"That's not it, I just mean that we spend quite a few weekends in the lab. I know that you wouldn't have made me work this weekend."

She took a deep breath, she knew he was joking but it had hit a nerve so to speak, she had never even realised she was doing it before. She had been so passionate about her work and she figured that he was too and that he wouldn't mind the overtime, but now she was realising that maybe he just wasn't like her, he probably longed for a work-free weekend. She was a really shitty boss and she hadn't even known until that moment. He still wasn't going to get her to admit to being in the wrong. Not yet anyhow.

A comeback had been on the tip of her tongue just as she spotted the mystery woman coming in from outside with Graham following behind her. "Look there, with your brother."

"What?" he turned and she watched as his face fell and he stared at the woman, his eyes narrowing slightly. "Shit."

"What is it?" she asked, trying to see what it was that he saw whilst she didn't. He didn't answer her question though, instead, he just downed the drink that was in his hand before pouring himself another and taking her hand, leading her towards the table where David was already sitting talking to a woman with short dark hair. "Robin."

"It's nothing, don't worry about it," he smiled at her but she could see that it wasn't genuine and she certainly wasn't satisfied with his answer.

"Robin seriously who is…"

"Oh my goodness! You're Robin's fiancé!" The brunette who had been sat with David cut off Regina's sentence with what Regina could only describe as an excited squeal. The woman wore a pale pink sweater over the top of a crisp white shirt, that was paired with a navy skirt and the word that came to Regina's mind had to be preppy. "It's so good to meet you, David told me that you were staying at the house."

"Well, here I am," Regina flashed her a fake smile as she took a sip from the glass of wine Robin had poured for her.

"Wow. You didn't tell me how pretty she was David," she scolded, smacking him lightly in a way that she might as well have not bothered with it at all. If Regina was going to playfully smack Robin, she would make sure that he felt it. "I'm Mary Margaret."

"Oh, David's teen bride?" Regina asked, hearing Robin snort into his wine and David almost choke on his own drink. The woman herself seemed to turn a deep shade of red as she cleared her throat and tucked a strand of her dark hair behind her ear.

"You heard about that? Well, it was a long time ago and we were really young at the time…"

"Don't worry about explaining yourself to me, I get it, you were young and in love and wanted to spend the rest of your lives together, then realised you had barely even had time to discover yourselves."

"That's exactly what it was!" Mary Margaret gushed in agreement. Regina had felt guilty for embarrassing the woman, not that she would apologise to her for it, she just tried to make her feel better instead. "I always feel that David's family have hated me ever since."

"I told you they don't," David shook his head, finding her hand and holding it in his.

Regina rose an eyebrow as she looked to Robin who wasn't really paying attention to the conversation going on at their table, he was watching the mysterious woman across the hall who was stood talking to a group of people in the corner. "These two are totally fucking," Regina whispered in his ear, jolting him out of his daydream as he turned to look back at her.

"What makes you say that?"

"It's obvious," she murmured. "So, what is it that you do Mary?"

"I'm a primary school teacher at the local school. I just love working with the kids and helping them to learn," she smiled.

"Oh I love children," Regina nodded.

"Woah, hold up. You what?" Robin laughed, shaking his head as he looked at her in surprise. It also seemed as though she had all of his attention finally.

"I like kids."

"Since when? I don't think I have ever seen you interact with children. In fact, when the big boss from HR asked you if you would be willing to go to a school to do a science talk, I remember you saying that you hated kids and wouldn't ever want to do that."

"I don't hate kids Robin," she snapped narrowing her eyes at him, "I just…"

"You said that."

She glared at him in a warning not to carry on in the direction he was going, she wasn't having this conversation in front of others. There had been a reason why she hadn't wanted to do that talk but she wasn't about to tell him here so instead she decided to ignore him. "What grade do you teach?"

"Well, I take the year three class, the children are seven and eight-year-olds. Anyway, enough about me, I hear that you work with Robin in some kind of science."

"Yes, we work on developing new medicines and discovering cures for diseases, things like that."

"Wow! That's impressive."

"Thank you, it's certainly rewarding, but I guess in a different way than teaching children to read and write would be," she smiled. She could see that even David looked impressed to hear what it was that she actually did. She wondered if Robin hadn't told his brother specifically what his job was.

"Hey guys!" a voice called as a familiar blonde took a seat at the table. She was wearing a neon pink dress and had her hair in bouncing long curls.

"Hi Emma," Mary Margaret smiled, awkwardly looking down at the table and Regina raised an eyebrow at her response, she wondered why, all of a sudden, the woman had gone all shy. A moment ago, she had been gushing and talking about things, now she had gone quiet and wouldn't meet Emma's eye.

"So, why don't you have any proper drinks?"

"We are not getting drunk at grandad's birthday party," David shook his head.

Regina knew that Emma was now looking at her and grinning, "Regina? You're up for it right?"

"Hmm, I don't know about that one." She contemplated it for a moment, seeing the disapproving look Robin's eldest brother was giving her and she knew that she was going to have to go with Emma on this one. What could really go wrong? "l suppose, but only a light buzz."

"Yes! God I'm so glad I finally found someone in this family willing to have fun with me!"

"Regina are you sure about this?" Robin asked.

"Don't worry baby, I'm sure it'll all be fine," she grinned, patting his cheek playfully before standing up and going along with Emma towards the alcohol. "Thanks for that."

"No worries, looked like you needed saving from that dullness."

"How did you know?"

"Trust me, more than five minutes with David and Mary is enough to drive anyone insane," Emma sniggered, pouring herself a large helping of vodka before grabbing a couple of bottles, "come on, let's go outside."

"Okay," Regina nodded, going along with her out the back door and onto the balcony she had been stood on earlier that night. They found a bench and both flopped down into it, it was dark now and she couldn't see anything past the edge of the fence that was illuminated by the dim outside lights. A small fire was going in the courtyard providing a little heat to fight against the cool night air.

"Heres to having fun!" the blonde smirked.

"To having fun."

* * *

An hour later and Robin had joined them outside along with a few other people, Regina was beginning to feel a little drunk now though and knew that it was probably a good idea for her to stop drinking otherwise she would have one killer of a hangover in the morning. She put her drink down on the table and shook her head, "I'm just going to pop to the bathroom."

"Don't break the seal!" Emma giggled. She was considerably drunker than Regina was which was quite clear from the way she was acting. Mary Margaret had joined them for a few moments before Emma said something and she hurried back in like a wounded puppy with David quick on her heels.

"I don't even know what that means," she chuckled, rolling her eyes at her newfound friend before heading back inside. The music was still going; however, the songs had changed to older ones and a lot of the elderly guests were on the dance floor. Regina smiled as she spotted Roland and June dancing together, they were the most adorable couple she had ever seen.

She just watched them for a while, standing by the side taking in their happiness and feeling a swell of emotions bubble up inside. For her, there hadn't ever been two people more in love than Robin's grandparents, she had never seen anything like it in her life.

"Beautiful isn't it."

Startled, she turned to see Caroline stood beside her, she hadn't even realised she was there so it had been quite the surprise. "They look so peaceful."

"They've always been like that."

"Really?"

"Hmm, ever since I first met them. I'd often wondered what I had to do to get my relationship to be that perfect. I don't think I've ever witnessed them have an argument."

"Wow."

"I know, can't be bad right? Myself and Robin's father used to argue all the time, we still do. That doesn't mean our love isn't any less passionate than there's. Just like you and Robin, I guess. You remind me a lot of myself when I was your age."

"Do I?" she swallowed the lump in her throat as she met Caroline's blue eyes.

"Yes, you're stubborn and I like that, you make Robin work for it and god knows that is what he needs! He needs someone to challenge him and push him to be the person I know he is. He's different you know, since the last time I saw him, there's just something in his eyes, some kind of sparkle. You put that there."

Regina offered her a tight smile; she didn't know what his mother was seeing in his eyes but it certainly wasn't out of affection for her. He wasn't her biggest fan and he certainly didn't love her. "Well I'm glad about that. I'm sorry, I just need the bathroom so…"

"Of course," the blonde woman nodded, walking away and finding her husband, forcing him to dance with her.

She took a deep breath before heading off in the direction of the toilets which she found were located down some stairs and underneath the building. People were queuing up the stairs waiting to go and she was literally crossing her legs as the line slowly progressed.

"Hey, sorry I walked off earlier."

Regina turned her head to see the mysterious brunette behind her in the line, "hi, don't worry about it. I had been meaning to come back in anyway."

"I saw you play, you and Robin make a good team."

"I like to think so." She didn't know who this person was, but she wanted to find out. "So I saw you with Graham a little while ago."

"Oh it wasn't what it looked like."

"What did it look like?" Regina asked, tilting her head as she studied the woman through the slight alcoholic gaze she had going on. She hadn't been thinking anything of what she had seen but now it sounded as though she had some reason to.

"Nothing, Graham and I are just friends. He isn't the Locksley brother that I'm after."

"Oh well, if you're after David I'm afraid the little woodland sprite might have beaten you to it," she chuckled. It was clear that David was still hung up on his ex-wife and it seemed as though the feeling was mutual.

"Not David actually."

"Wait… oh."

"Yeah, oh."

"Well, I don't really know what to say." This woman had some real nerve to say that. In fact, how dare she? Regina felt a mixture of both jealousy and anger well up inside her and if she wasn't so reserved she might not have bitten her tongue.

"You don't have to say anything I know you're engaged and…"

"Yes, we're engaged, so I don't really think that it was appropriate for you to say something like that."

"You don't get it though. I have known Robin my entire life, we grew up together and…"

"And I should care because? He's my fiancé and I really don't appreciate you saying that you are after him. Trust me I don't think he would be interested."

"Oh I think he might be, he was before, why should anything have changed."

Regina turned fully this time, facing her entire body towards the woman who had a smug smile playing on her lips, she was clearly trying to wind her up on purpose and she hated to admit it had worked and bothered her much more than it should have. "I think it might be time for you to stop talking, don't you?"

"You don't think I'm just going to let you marry the man I love, do you?"

She rolled her eyes and shook her head; this was ridiculous and the woman needed to back the hell off. Also, the queue had now gone down and she was made aware of how tight her bladder was. "Do you know what I think? This is a pointless conversation and I don't wish to talk any more about it. If you don't mind, I think I'll be going for a pee now if it's all the same to you."

"Well, I'll see you around Regina."

"I don't even know your name but I suppose bye bitch will do for now." With that, she slammed the cubicle door and did her business.

* * *

**Bet you can guess who we all had the pleasure of meeting in this chapter. ;) Also, what is going on with MM and Emma? See you in the next chapter!**


	8. I Feel Like Dancing

**Hey guys! This chapter was inspired by a wonderful manip by CarolinaMR9, I hope you enjoy it and please let me know what you thought![Click here to see it! ](https://twitter.com/Lunatwilight07/status/1176570963405758467)**

* * *

A couple of hours later and Regina was much drunker than she had intended to become, she found herself wrapped up in Robin's arms as they danced together with the rest of the guests. It had reached that point in the night where everyone cut loose a little and just had fun. Due to the alcohol, the edge had been taken off a little and she found that she was able to relax a lot easier, it was nice to just be able to let go and not have to worry what people were thinking about her.

"I don't know why but I never imagined you as a good dancer," she giggled as Robin swirled her under his arm, a grin edging onto his face as he looked at her.

"Why not? I'll have you know that I am a rather accomplished dancer."

"I always figured that you would have two left feet, though it seems I may have been wrong about that, you're rather alright."

"Why thank you, that's more than we can say for you then isn't," he teased.

She scoffed and prodded his chest with her finger, "I'll have you know that I was salsa champion back at boarding school thank you very much?"

"You went to boarding school?"

"Hmm," she nodded, realising that she had accidentally let that information slip, it hadn't been her intention, but now it seemed he knew her secret. What was the point in backtracking, he might not even remember in the morning from the way this party was going. "Yes, maybe that's why I such an awkward bitch, my parents shipped me off to a school two hundred miles away from home, they really had a way of making their daughter feel special."

"Shit, that's rough."

"Nothing I can do about it now, anyway, I don't want to dwell on the past. How is it that you can dance?"

"My grandmother used to dance with me in the kitchen," he stated, clearing his throat awkwardly. She could tell that he felt guilty about that confession after learning about an important part of her childhood. The look on his face told her that he was sorry that she'd grown up without her family around her whilst he'd had the complete opposite. His family had clearly been his whole world and it still was.

"Carry on."

"We would bake together and whilst they were in the oven we would dance to her records. What about you, did you ever do anything like that with your grandparents?"

"No, my father's parents died before I was born and my mother's didn't really pay any interest to me. Although one year I did go home with my friend Mal for a weekend and her grandparents were there, it was nice to see what it felt like. You are really lucky to be so close to yours."

"They are yours now too."

"Oh I suppose they are," she chuckled, biting on her bottom lip as she stared into his eyes. They were the most beautiful colour and she wasn't sure why she hadn't noticed before. She could almost get lost in the pools of blue, they were mesmerising. Her attention was stolen from his eyes by a music change, she grinned at him excitedly, "I love this one." She couldn't stop herself from bopping along to the music.

"Oh god, you really are terrible at dancing."

"I don't care," she shrugged, waiting for the lyrics to start before singing along, proving that she really was drunker than she first thought, she did not sing in public. In fact, she had never sung in front of anyone before and she really hadn't been planning on any of this happening. She was too far gone now to even try and stop.

I feel the night explode

When we're together

Emotion overload

In the heat of pleasure

Take me I'm yours

Into your arms

Never let me go

"Wow singing now as well, boss you really are full of surprises," he laughed as she grabbed his hand and forced him to dance with her, wrapping her arms around his shoulders as he began to sing along with her. She couldn't remember the last time she had really let loose and enjoyed herself, but this was panning out to be a night for the record books.

"I'm really having a wonderful time and I know this is all part of a deal, but I just want to think you for inviting me, you didn't have to. I really appreciate it."

"Steady on Regina, I think we've already had enough first for one night, we can't be having you being humble as well. I don't think I'll cope."

"Very funny," she rolled her eyes, carrying on moving in time with the beat. They were still dancing together when they accidentally bumped into someone else, causing the woman's drink to spill all over the front of Robin's shirt. "Oops," Regina chuckled, looking at the woman who seemed horrified, it turned out that it had been Mary Margaret who spilt the drink.

"Robin I'm so sorry!" she called over the music, "I really didn't mean to, your shirt, it's probably ruined."

"Don't worry about it," he shook his head.

Regina looked at him closely before grabbing his hand and pulling him through the crowd, they weaved in and out of the people who were dancing much like they had been. She led him to the back of the stage behind the curtain where it was just the two of them. Her fingers went to the buttons of his shirt, which was soaked with red wine, and she watched as his eyes winded.

"What are you doing?"

"Taking your shirt off, what does it look like?" she shrugged, carrying on with her task, her eyes never leaving his even for a moment. The music was more muffled there and she could almost hear his heavy breathing as he stared back at her. She was briefly aware that the song had changed to an old school ballad, like on they would play on cheesy romance movies. Once she'd reached the last of the buttons, her hands moved to his shoulders and she slipped his shirt off. "A vest huh?"

"Tank top," he chuckled.

"Oh, that's okay then," Regina grinned, allowing her fingers to move over his arms, feeling the muscles there. She licked her lips, she'd had no idea that he was so in shape, sure she knew he was attractive, but who knew that under his lab coat he was secretly ripped? God, what the hell was happening to her? It had been a long time since she had felt the urge to kiss someone, but she was really feeling it, looking at Robin made her want to kiss him. She wanted to know what his lips would feel like pressed against her own.

It was totally unprofessional, but then again, they were engaged. Would it really do any harm?

She felt herself take a step closer to him as her hand brushed over to press against his chest, she felt heat on her waist and her eyes left his for a moment to find his hands on either side of her. Maybe this feeling wasn't merely one-sided then. Could he feel it too? She didn't know, she was scared of rejection, but the pull was too much to handle.

Robin's eyes were on hers and she could tell he was trying to read her too, but she couldn't wait any longer, she needed to know what he tasted like. Needed the press of his lips, wanted to feel the brush of his stubble against her smooth skin. Taking a deep breath, she decided to go for it, leaning further in to meet him as he did the same. She could feel his warm breath run over her damp lips and her eyes fluttered closed in anticipation, she was so close, he was so close, mere millimetres away.

"There you are! I wondered where the two of you had run off to."

Regina caught her breath, pulling away from Robin quickly as he scrambled backwards and turned to see his mother peering around the curtain at them. The moment was ruined and Regina quickly felt like a fool, she also felt like a teenager attempting to fool around at prom and getting caught by the teacher.

"Sorry, was I interrupting something?" Caroline asked, looking between them.

"No, not at all. Robin spilt on his shirt that's all, we were just dealing with it."

"Oh, I see. Well, I am going to drive your grandparents home, Robin, they are feeling tired now. I didn't know if the two of you were wanting to stay a little longer or if you were ready to go as well?"

"I think I'm ready to go now actually, thank you, Caroline," Regina nodded, she was embarrassed about what had happened and wanted to forget about it. She blamed the alcohol.

"Okay, if you're sure, we'll meet you out front in five."

"Sounds good."

"You're going back?" Robin asked once they were alone again, "I thought we were having a good time."

"We were, I think the alcohol has gone to my head now though, I should probably go back and try to sleep it off before I'm a hungover mess tomorrow." It was an excuse; she didn't even really feel that drunk anymore. It was weird how certain things could completely kill a buzz.

"Alright, I'll come home with you. Mum is probably coming back here anyway."

"If you want, you don't have to Robin, I want you to enjoy your night, I'll be fine on my own."

"Nah, I'm ready to go now too. Also, I know that if I let you go home alone, you'll steal the bed again."

"You know me well," she smirked, turning towards the curtain, "don't forget your shirt."

"I still don't get why you took it off in the first place, the stain is still there whether it's on me or not," Robin chuckled, picking up the soggy shirt from where she had dropped it to the floor.

If she was totally honest, she didn't really know what she was wanting to achieve by taking the shirt off, she had just wanted to do it so she did. "I was going to soak it in the sink or something. I'm not sure."

He rose an eyebrow, she knew he wasn't fooled, but he didn't say anything, he simply moved past her out of the room and into the hall where he began saying goodnight to everyone. She took a breath before following him out, trailing behind him similar to the way Meg had been following her around earlier that day.

"You better not be leaving." Regina turned to see Emma stood behind her with her arms folded over her chest, "I was hoping to get a dance in before you left. We haven't done oops upside your head yet!"

"I have no idea what that is."

"Oh my god! You've never done that dance before?! How?"

"I guess we don't do that in America."

"Robin! Your fiancé has never done oops upside your head."

"She doesn't want to either," he laughed, "I don't think it would be your type of thing. I can't really imagine you sitting on the floor with everyone doing that dance."

"Sitting on the floor?" Regina rose an eyebrow watched as the blonde's eyes widened as the music changed.

"Time warp!"

"No, now we're definitely out of here," Robin shook his head, his hand wrapped around Regina's.

"What on earth goes on at British parties?" Regina sniggered as she followed Robin outside, much to the protest of Emma who was busy dancing along to the music. The quiet of outside was nice on her ears, the music from inside blending into the background.

"People go a little crazy and do stupid dances they've been doing for the past thirty-odd years," he grinned as they leant against the railings outside, waiting for his grandparents and mother to come outside.

"Well, I have to admit I actually had fun tonight." She was aware that he was still holding her hand and she should pull away, but his skin was warming hers and she found it comforting, she wasn't willing to lose that just yet. Also, it would help with appearances anyway, so what was the harm?

"Wait, you actually had fun? You know what fun is?"

"Are you ever going to stop teasing me?"

"Never."

She rolled her eyes at him playfully, knocking her hip against his, "I do know what fun it for your information. You might be shocked to know this, but sometimes I am capable of having it, but shush don't let anyone else know," she giggled, leaning her forehead against his shoulder and closing her eyes.

"How drunk are you? On a scale of one to ten. Ten being literally legless and one being completely sober only drinking lemonade."

"I'd probably say a sold six maybe edging into a seven," she grinned, not looking up at him but maintaining her position using him as her personal pillow. "Aren't you cold? You haven't got a shirt on."

"Oh yeah, a beautiful woman took it off me earlier. No, I'm not too bad, but maybe it would be best to share body heat, you know just in case?"

"Are you trying it on with me?" she scoffed, finally deciding to meet his eyes. She wasn't sure if that was what he was doing or if he was just trying to be funny and thought if she got a better look at him, she might be able to work it out.

"I…"

"Right love birds, are we ready to get going?" Caroline asked as she came out of the building with Robin's grandparents in tow. She hadn't been drinking so she was able to drive them home, seemingly she would be the one on taxi duty later for quite a few people at the party.

"Yeah, we're ready," Robin nodded. "Did you have a fun time at your party Grandad?" he asked, looking to the elderly man as they all climbed into the car. His mother and grandfather in the front with the two of them and his grandmother squished into the back, Regina in the middle as she was the smallest.

"Yes thank you, my boy, it was also very enlightening."

"That's good, I'm glad you enjoyed it."

"Me too," Regina added finding herself scooting a little closer to Robin, their thighs pressing together due to the small confines of the car.

"Where did your shirt go Robin?" the elderly woman beside Regina asked, peering over at her grandson in the dark as Caroline started the car and they headed off in the direction of his grandparent's house.

"Mary Margaret spilt wine on it."

"Oh, David's teen bride," Roland quipped, causing Regina to laugh out loud. She couldn't control it; it was a quick burst of laughter that had just come from nowhere.

"I am so sorry, I just…"

"She's had a little too much to drink and we can blame Emma for that," Robin excused.

"I really am sorry, it's just I accidentally called her that to her face earlier."

"You did?" the old man turned to look at her, a mischievous smirk on his face. It was an expression that had her own lips tipping up at the edges.

"I didn't mean to, it just came out after what you said a couple of days ago."

"I bet she liked that one didn't she."

"She was so embarrassed and I felt awful," she didn't really, to be honest, she had a rather sadistic sense of humour and to see the woman's cheeks blush as they had, had been rather amusing for her.

"Don't feel awful, she's used to being embarrassed that one. Though she finds almost everything embarrassing."

"Dad, don't be nasty about her," Caroline tutted, though Regina could see in the mirror that there was a small smile on her lips. She didn't really get what was going on with the family and Mary Margaret but they clearly had some kind of history with her and she also had a feeling it went further than her marrying David when they were young and then getting a divorce.

"I'm not nasty about her, I'm just surprised she hasn't made her way further through my grandchildren."

"Dad hush yourself."

"Don't worry, I'm not going to say anything else, my lips are sealed," he winked at Regina through the mirror and she grinned at him in return. Now she was more intrigued than ever, what Roland had said implied that David hadn't been the only Locksley Mary Margaret had gone after. She wondered if it had been Graham like it had been with Marian, he seemed to cause trouble in his siblings' relationships. She knew it couldn't be Robin because she really couldn't see him going there, so it must have been Graham, that was the only remaining option. Interesting.

The rest of the drive had been rather uneventful. Once they'd dropped off Roland and June, they'd headed back to the farmhouse. Now though Robin was in the shower, she had just taken her own and was sat on the edge of the bed in her stupidly tiny lace pyjamas, towel drying her hair. She was wondering what the sleeping arrangements would be that night. She becoming less and less dubious about sharing a bed with him. Her head was screaming at her not to let that happen, her heart or some other part of her was begging for it, it was as though the two of them were warring against one another.

_Come on! You know you want to, you want to sleep with him! Do it, what's the worst that can happen? You're just sleeping!_

**No. No, that is such a bad idea, she shouldn't sleep with him, are you insane? Don't do it, Regina, if you do that there's no coming back from it and you know it.**

_God, will you shut up! They're only sharing a bed not taking their marriage vows, though to be honest, that is coming anyway so who cares? Regina, come on, just sleep in the bed with the man, you stupid woman, don't you dare make him sleep on the floor again. His poor back._

**The only thing sensible about what you just said was the thing about his back, but maybe you should just sleep on the floor for once, give him the bed. It's not a good idea to get too close. He'll break your heart. You'll get hurt, don't let that happen again, Regina. You can't let that happen again; you know what happened the last time you fell for someone. Do you really want that to happen again?**

_She's not a sixteen-year-old girl anymore, she's not going to get hurt. Anyway, it's literally sharing a bed why are you…_

"Hey."

Regina looked up at Robin as he walked into the room wearing only pyjama bottoms and nothing else, his hair was wet and he was towelling it off similar to how she was. "Hi."

"Someone was daydreaming."

"No, I was just thinking about things that's all. I think we should share the bed," she smiled shyly as she stood and placed the damp towel over the radiator before returning to the bed and climbing in. "Would you be willing to share?"

Robin looked at her for a minute before hanging up his own towel and shrugging, "are you sure, if you're uncomfortable with it we don't have to."

"Get in the bed Locksley, before I change my mind and force you back onto the hard floor. Is that what you want?"

"No mam," he grinned, climbing into the bed beside her.

"You're seemingly more willing than you were last night."

"Well, I like to think that we have progressed since then," he shrugged. He was in bed with her and there was no going back now, she could hardly chuck him out again. Suddenly she felt nervous, her chest tightened a little as she took a deep breath and tried to calm herself, nothing was going to happen, they would just be sleeping, that was what she was repeating in her mind. She was just sleeping in bed with him, they weren't going to be doing anything more than that. Robin was respectful and he would respect her, she knew that.

"Yes, I suppose so." She wound her fingers together underneath the duvet as she turned her head to look at him before sinking further under the sheets. "I had a lovely time tonight; the party was brilliant."

"Me too, I was pleasantly surprised by how well it went."

Regina smiled at him and found herself staring at him a little bit, she licked her lips before tucking her hair behind her ear, "I'm tired now though, so I guess I'm going to try and get some sleep." She wasn't tired, in fact, she was wide awake, but she could feel the tension between them and would much rather pretend to be sleeping than drag it out further. She didn't want to do something that she might end up regretting.

"Okay, goodnight."

"Night Robin," she turned to face the opposite wall, staring at the blind which covered the window, it was dark though which meant she could only vaguely make out the geometric triangles and shapes from the slight amount of moonlight shining in through the gaps at either side.

She knew it was going to take her a while to fall asleep, it always did when she had to share a bed with someone. She wasn't a very heavy sleeper as it was, so having someone next to her only made it worse. After lying there for ten minutes and feeling probably less tired than she had before she turned to lay on her back and stare up at the ceiling. At home, if she couldn't sleep she would just flick the television on and fall asleep with it as background noise, always leaving it on a timer so that it turned off after so long.

"Still awake?"

"I can't sleep," she admitted, rolling to look at him.

"Me either. Do you want to talk?"

"What about?"

"Well, you dropped a bombshell earlier about your parents sending you to boarding school when you were younger. Is that topic off bounds?"

She took a deep breath and shook her head, "I suppose not, what is it that you want to know?" She had never talked about her school experience with anyone before, but she figured if they were going to have to get married and somehow convince the immigration court that they were actually in love he would have to know these things.

"How old were you when you first got sent to boarding school?"

"I was ten. My mother had just been appointed mayor in our town and my father was a member of the senate. They were busy people and decided that I would be best placed in a boarding school where I could be given more attention I suppose," she shrugged. "I hated it. I remember the first time they dropped me off, I sobbed and sobbed. I saw my father's heart breaking; my mother couldn't have cared less. She told me to toughen up and stop being so embarrassing."

"That's cold."

"That's my mother for you. She's always been like that, ever since I was born. They left me in that place and I cried myself to sleep for the first month or so," she whispered, playing with the edge of the quilt before chancing a glance up at Robin to find him watching her with an expression she couldn't place.

He reached a hand out to gently take hers, threading their fingers together. "Was it awful?"

"It wasn't so bad. I missed my father and my friends; I didn't fit in with the other children there. I was the new girl and because of that, I was left out a lot. That's when I learnt to play the piano, the music tutor took pity on me and gave me private lessons to get me out of my room. She was the friendliest woman I ever met; your mother reminds me a lot of her actually. I remember thinking when I was younger that I wished she would adopt me and take me home. Guess I saw myself as a Matilda type, without the magic of course," she smiled sadly.

"Well, she was a very good teacher."

"Yes, she was," she contemplated about what more to tell him. She knew she should be truthful and tell him the entire story, but she was scared, she wanted to talk about Mal and what happened there but it was hard dredging it all back up. "When I was sixteen a new girl arrived at the school. She'd transferred from another school but no one knew why, we hit it off straight away and I finally had a friend, an actual friend who wanted to spend time with me."

"Was this the friend you mentioned the other day, the one who tried to seduce teachers?" He asked, his fingers brushing over her in a gesture that reassured her to continue with her story.

"The one and only, though that wasn't the reason she was moved from her other school. She didn't tell me the reason until we'd been friends around six months, by this point we were inseparable. We'd have little slumber parties even though they weren't really allowed. Then one night we were playing a game of truth and dare and I asked her if she had a crush on anyone. She said yes and…" she stopped talking, she didn't know if she could tell him about that. No one knew, except her and Mal, no one knew about that moment.

She had to be truthful with him though, he was listening to her so carefully and she knew he would understand. If he didn't though, everything could be ruined, she didn't know if she was brave enough to risk that.

"Was she more than a friend?" he whispered.

Regina just nodded, "she kissed me that night. It was my first kiss and I was confused, but after a while I realised, I liked her back. We started dating, if you could have called it that. We were fooling around and I was the happiest I had ever been when I was with her. She made me happy."

"What happened?"

"All good things have to come to an end, I guess. We were kissing in bed and we got caught by one of the tutors, we were both sent home, my mother was furious and when I went back, I found out that she'd had Mal expelled from the school, she'd paid them off. We tried the long-distance thing, but it didn't work out. Now we're just good friends."

"Thank you for sharing your story with me, I know it must have been hard to open up."

"It was, I've never told anyone that before," she breathed.

"Well, I'm honoured to be the first to hear that story."

"Mal reminds me a lot of Emma actually."

"Hey! Don't be copping off with my sister! I've already had one girlfriend cheat on me with one of my siblings."

"You don't have to worry, I don't like your sister in that way," she grinned, moving a touch closer to him, he was warm and the night was cool so she couldn't help but seek out his heat. "Or anyone else for that matter. Do you want to talk more about Marian? I mean I told you about my first love, I think it's only fair that you tell me about yours."

"Oh what to say about Marian," he huffed, "she was very demanding and always needed to get her own way. Kind of like someone else I know."

"I know what I want and I always get what I want, there's a difference," Regina chuckled, playfully digging her knee into his stomach, "carry on."

"Hey, I like a headstrong woman! In fact, that is probably my type, what I don't like it someone who will sleep with my brother after we'd been dating for two years."

Regina winced and shook her head, "I can't believe you ever forgave him. If I had any siblings and they did that to me, I think I would probably have disowned them."

"It's a little hard to disown someone who lives under the same roof as you. Although after it happened I did move out for a while, I couldn't stand to be in the same room as him for months. He told me he was drunk and that it only happened once, I believe him, but it still hurts."

"It's a betrayal of your trust," she quipped, "I don't know how anyone can do that to someone, knowing that it is going to hurt them."

"I had a ring and everything. I wanted to propose, but I couldn't forgive her. I know you're going to say I'm being a hypocrite because I forgave Graham, but he was my brother, I didn't really have a choice, but she hurt me so much that I had to cut her off completely. To be honest, tonight would have been the first time I've seen her in around five years."

"Wow, that's a long time." Regina nodded. God, it was nice to just talk to him without barriers, without having to worry about revealing too much. They were communicating with each other and it made her feel happier about the situation she was in, she didn't feel as guilty. "Are you still in love with her?"

"No, I don't think so."

"You don't think so?"

"I'm not in love with her," Robin shook his head, "as I said, I could never trust her again."

Regina sighed and then something clicked in her mind, she had only just registered what he'd said, "wait, she was there tonight?"

"Marian? Yeah, she was the woman with Graham earlier."

"That's Marian?! Wow, she's a real piece of work."

"She spoke to you?"

"Did she," Regina scoffed with a shake of the head. Fuck it all made sense now, why the cow had been so off with her. If she had known that she was Marian and that she was the woman who had caused Robin so much hurt she might not have held herself back as much as she had done. She might even have indulged in a little physical violence if it had come to it, she'd never hit anyone in her life, but seeing that woman's smug face was quite capable of changing that. "She was nice to me until she found out who I was, after that she was less than friendly."

"God, I'm sorry about that, I should have warned you about her. Although she can't have me she's rather possessive."

"Well, two can play at that game. Don't worry, I fended her off," Regina laughed.

"Oh I bet you did, trust me I wouldn't like to go up against you in a fight."

"That would be a sensible decision," she grinned, she hadn't realised quite how close to him she was, but their heads were resting on the same pillow and it seemed that they had gravitated towards one another as they had been talking. It was nice, the perfect end to the evening and in a way, it made her feel closer to him, not just in the physical sense but emotionally. They understood one another that little bit more than they had done before.

She fought back a yawn as she heard the front door go, sounding the return of Robin's parents and Emma who was drunkenly singing whilst her mother shushed her, telling her off for being too loud, only resulting in laughter from the blonde.

Regina chuckled and shook her head, "your sister is really going to feel it in the morning."

"You'd be surprised, it's annoying how unhungover she is after getting this drunk."

"Really?"

"Yeah, we've probably had half the amount she has and I'm guessing we'll have a worse hangover than her."

"Eww, not looking forward to that," she yawned, covering her mouth.

"Now you're actually tired."

"How did you know I was lying before?"

"No one who is actually tired tosses and turns like that for ten minutes straight," he smirked, tucking her hair behind her ear gently, "so I suppose now it's goodnight?"

"Hmm, if I don't want to be the living dead tomorrow, I better get some sleep."

"Me too. Goodnight Regina."

"Night Robin," she whispered, doing as before and turning to face the window. However, this time sleep seemed to come more naturally, she was comfortable around him now. She trusted him in a way she hadn't before and that trust meant everything.


End file.
